The best player names of the 2018–19 women’s college basketball season

In years past, enterprising journalists have scoured men’s college basketball rosters for the most interesting names. These lists have always entertained me, so I decided to find my favorite names in women’s college basketball. Today I’m sharing my favorites from the 4,896 Division I women’s players, and next week I’ll be back for a bonus round with the 351 head coaches. (All names are listed in alphabetical order.)

Basketball is in the family (name)

Four players have last names that reference the sport:

Amani Ball, Bethune-Cookman
Terrysha Banner, Tennessee State
Holly Hoopingarner, IUPUI
Chante Stonewall, DePaul

The royal court

Many women’s basketball players have regal names, including 10 players with the last name King, three with the last name Prince, and three with the last name Knight. There are three Princesses but only one Queen on Division I rosters this season — two if you count A’Queen Hayes of Middle Tennessee. Here are five players who are seeking a championship crown worthy of their names:

Queen Egbo, Baylor
Quincy Noble, New Mexico
Najah Queenland, Ohio State
Dy’Manee Royal, Florida A&M
Kat Tudor, Oregon State

Perfect pairings

If you hear that Megan Walker hit four three-pointers last night, you might think of the UConn sophomore. But Lehigh has a Megan Walker, too (and she can also shoot from distance!). There are 12 such pairs of “name twins” in the country, not to mention several other names that are nearly identical.

Then there are names that go together like peanut butter and jelly. For example, Autumn Jones and Summer Hemphill both play for Buffalo, so the natural question is whether a Spring and a Winter are top recruiting priorities for head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. And in the Pac-12, Utah’s Erika Bean will face off with Stanford’s Shannon Coffee on January 27. Here are five other perfect pairings:

Bria Bass, Eastern Kentucky; Lajahna Drummer, UCLA
Bryce Blood, Valparaiso; Courtney Redcross, Northeastern
Martine Fortune, Georgia Tech; Chance Graham, Coppin State
Maya Garland, UAB; Tyeisha Rudolph, Alabama State
Kai Moon, Binghamton; Piper Morningstar, Radford

Toughness

It’s one thing to say you’re a tough player; it’s another thing to have your name say it for you. Here are five players whose names say it all:

Shauntai Battle, Samford
Claire Gritt, Denver
Clair Steele, Lehigh
Asia Strong, Bradley
Jessica Wall, UNC Asheville

Values

Toughness is not the only attribute that coaches value in a player — or the only attribute that shows up in a player’s name. Faith (6 players) and Grace (27 players) are relatively common examples, but players like Glory Jones (Loyola Marymount), Anyia Pride (Cleveland State), and Promise Taylor (Mississippi State) also fit in this category. Here are my top five:

Courtesy Clark, San Jose State
Respect Leaphart, Southern Mississippi
Keasja Peace, Houston
Charity Savage, Middle Tennessee
Honesty Scott-Grayson, Baylor

Is it lunchtime yet?

A surprisingly large number of players have names relating to food, including seven with the last name Berry and four with the last name Mayo. With so many to choose from, I couldn’t help but list two teams’ worth of menu choices. (Plus, the three players with the last name Reese and the College of Charleston’s Dee Heath could nearly make an all-candy team of their own.)

First Team

Daishai Almond, Southern Mississippi
Cinnamon Dockery, Saint Peter’s
Juicy Landrum, Baylor
Yummy Morris, TCU
Peanut Tuitele, Colorado

Second Team

Amber Bacon, SMU
Kayla Bacon, Drexel
Ma’Qhi Berry, Long Beach State
Chanz Cherry, Stony Brook
Shalae Salmon, BYU

Colors of the rainbow

A whopping 37 players have the last name Brown; the colors Green (19), White (18), Gray (8), and Black (2) also dot rosters across the country. But here are five players who sport the names of less common colors:

Tierra Dark, Alabama A&M
Emily Ivory, UMKC
Mahogany Matthews, Mississippi
Violet Kapri Morrow, Eastern Washington
Mahogany Vaught, South Alabama

Famous names

Like Wooden in basketball or Gretzky in hockey, some names need no introduction. Maybe one day, these players will fall in that same category, but for now, they hold the distinction of sharing a name with a legend.

Sydney Chastain, Little Rock
Lea Favre, Rider
Presley Hudson, Central Michigan
Kionna Jeter, Towson
Ksenia Popovich, UMES
Erin Whalen, Dayton

Animals

A menagerie of animal-themed names dot NCAA rosters, including four players with the last name Wolf, two Birds, two Lambs, one Fox, and the previously mentioned Shalae Salmon of BYU. Here are five of the best:

Miya Bull, High Point
Lee Camel, Montana
Skylar O’Bear, Southern
Jada Peacock, Wichita State
Jaye Two Bears, Milwaukee

The geography bee

NCAA rosters also have quite an international flair — and I’m not talking about players’ hometowns. Lots of players’ names map to places around the globe, including last names Washington (13 players) and Holland (3 players). For first names, there are 8 Asias, 4 Brooklyns, 3 Montanas, 6 Parises, and 16 Savannahs. In total, there are enough names of note to create several teams, but I stopped at two — one for city names and one for country names.

Cities

Cairo Booker, Wofford
TaeKenya Cleveland, American
Dallas Petties, Morgan State
Daneesha Provo, Utah (a fitting choice of school)
Emma Stockholm, Montana

Countries

Chayanna Canada, Albany
Tiana England, St. John’s
Jordan Ireland, NJIT
Taty LaFrance Boyce, Bryant
India Pagan, Stony Brook
Jada Poland, Evansville

The 2018–19 All-Name Teams (Players)

There are thousands more players in NCAA women’s basketball, and many of my favorite names don’t fit into any of the above categories. Some of these names may be familiar to you, such as a certain UConn guard, but many others likely won’t be. The players represent schools across the country, but, as it turns out, none are in Power 5 conferences. So take a look at the names below, and maybe you’ll find a new underdog to pull for come March.

First Team All-Name

Boogie Brozoski, Hofstra
D’Aviyon Magazine, Saint Peter’s
DeAsia Outlaw, Murray State
Charity Savage, Middle Tennessee
TaMiracle Taylor, FIU

Second Team All-Name

Diamond Battles, UCF
Crystal Dangerfield, UConn
Dominique Golightly, Abilene Christian
Marvellous Osagie-Erese, Georgetown
Chante Stonewall, DePaul

Third Team All-Name

Harper Birdsong, William & Mary
Trinity Bravo, Bryant
Allie McCool, George Mason
Yazzy Sa’Dullah, UC Irvine
Forever Toppin, Central Connecticut State

Honorable Mention All-Name

Jazz Bond, North Florida
Montserrat Brotons, Oral Roberts
Precious Featherson, Saint Peter’s
Bride Kennedy-Hopoate, New Mexico
Divine Tanks, McNeese
Timber Tate, UNC Wilmington

If you like this content, please support our work at Her Hoop Stats by subscribing for just $20 a year. All stats were compiled by the author; any errors are her own.