Arizona Basketball: Wildcats Player Nicknames Past Present and Future

Nicknames and sports go hand-in-hand, the more adored or respected an Arizona Basketball player is, the more fans will give them an endearing nickname and use it all the time.

William Webster’s Definition of ‘Nickname’:

A name that is different from your real name but is what your family, friends, (and Fans), etc., call you when they are talking to you or about you

Question: Does anyone call Phillip Wright III Phillip? Nope, they call him Scooby, a nickname his family gave him when he was young.

Zona Zealots writers recently met two Arizona commit’s we’re already attached to after we interviewed them at the ballislife All-American game. During the interview, we asked Terrance Ferguson and Rawle Alkins if they had nicknames. They asked us to come up with nicknames on the spot which was smart, but we were honestly afraid to come up with names they didn’t like.

Sooooo, we decided to ask the Fans and our own Zona Zealots writers if they had any ideas, and we got some good nicknames in return. We also explored Nicknames of past and present Wildcats.

Next: Nick Names of Past Wildcats (Alumni)

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Alumni Nick Names:

Anthony Cook – AC

Brandon Ashley – BASH or BRASH depending on who you talk too.

Brian David – Moose

Bruce Fraser – Q (because he asks so many questions, I hear he still asks a lot of questions)

Craig McMillan – Mac

Damon Stoudamire – Mighty Mouse

Derrick Williams – D-Will

Harvey Mason – Mase

Jason Terry – The Jet

Joe Turner – JT

Kaleb Tarczewski – Zeus (said in a long deep voice slowly)

Kenny Lofton – K-Dog or K-Lo (like J-Lo)

Luke Walton – Luuuuukkkkkkeeeee

Mark Tollefsen – Tolley

Matt Muehlebach – Stool (not the one you are thinking of)

Nick Johnson – NJ

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson – RHJ

Salim Stoudamire – Slim

Sean Elliott – Silly

Sean Rooks – Wookie (Because he was so big on the court like Chewbacca)

Solomon Hill – Solo

Stanley Johnson – Stanimal

Steve Kerr – Ice (he has ice in his veins) and fans would call out to him by saying, “Steeeeeeeeve Kerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr”

The Gumby Squad  or The Gumbies- 1988 Arizona Wildcats Basketball teams bench

T.J. McConnell – Floor General, TJ

Tom Tolbert – Tolbert

For old-time sakes….’Wild About the Cats’….because, why not?

Next: Present Wildcats nicknames

Returning Wildcats:

Allonzo Trier – Zo or ISO

Chance Comanche – Chief or YC (for Young Chief)

Dusan Ristic – Deus (like Zeus) or Coach Miller calls him “Usan” when he lacks “D”efense

Kadeem Allen – Dream

Parker Jackson-Cartwright – PJC or Funk or Swaggy P

Paulo Cruz – P-Lo

Ray Smith – Smoove

Trey Mason – TreyBall or T-Money (a nickname given to him by Steve Kerr when he was young)

Next: Incoming Arizona Wildcats Recruits

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Future Wildcats with and without nicknames, and as far as we know (please correct us if we missed one):

Kobi Simmons – Shoogs, KJ or  Koobbb (we like Shoogs but they all work)

Lauri Markkanen – Fans suggestions:  “The Finnisher” (two n’s because he’s from Finland, and he finishes on the court. Like the king of the court) or “Hercules” (Greek God, the strongest man on Earth because Zeus has left the building)

Rawle Alkins – Fans suggestions:: “Raw” (He has Raw talent) or “Amazing-A” (Again because he is truly Amazing), The Conductor (conducts the court)

Terrance Ferguson – Fans suggestions: “Wings” (Terrance told ZZ when he dunks he has wings, we agree) or “T-Fierce” (he is a fierce competitor on the court) or “Viper” (a play on Mamba, Viper is a cobra snake that rises up fast and attacks) or just stick with 2k

Talbott Denny – Fans suggestions: “Messenger of destruction” (this is exactly what his first name means)

Next: Lakers head coach Luke Walton beneficial for Arizona Basketball

What do you think? Any idea’s? We want these two future Cats to be happy with their nicknames, or at least what we have suggested. If the players don’t like what we have come up with, maybe we just have to let it come naturally. Let us know if we forgot a player and their nickname. BearDown Arizona!