A Contender for Name of the Year: God’s Gift Achiuwa

Last Friday, Brian Cook wrote about future Tulane football player Fudge Van Hooser as a strong candidate in the Name of the Year race. It is indeed a worthy entry, but I’d like to one-up Cook with Nigerian hoopster: God’s Gift Achiuwa.↵↵Zags Blog first brought Achiuwa, a 6-foot-9 forward from Erie Community College, to light. Achiuwa averaged 13 points and 13.4 rebounds per game last season to go with just over two blocks per contest.↵

↵↵Zags Blog writes that Achiuwa is being recruited by St. John’s and The Dagger reports Pittsburgh and Tennessee have also shown interest.↵

↵↵More on the unique name, via The Dagger:↵

↵↵⇥ “His name is the first thing that anyone asks about when they meet him,” Erie coach Alex Nwora said by phone. “Everyone thought it was a nickname or something, but that’s his real name. Fortunately, he’s a religious kid, so he likes it.”↵↵↵Also of note on Achiuwa: He had a 4.0 GPA in the fall and 3.8 in the spring. He was a third-team All-American for a 27-2 Erie squad. With a great name like that, we should all just hope he lands at some school playing a lot of TV games.↵

↵