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How Leaonna Odom Got the Nickname Ducky
12/16/2016 8:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
By Sarah Leggett, Duke Sports Information
DURHAM, N.C. – As a freshman, Leaonna Odom was expected to make an immediate impact on the women's basketball team and much like her scoring abilities, Odom's recent nickname, Ducky, has made a splash amongst the team.
“Ducky is a very unique person,” said sophomore guard Faith Suggs, the originator of the nickname. “Her voice is pretty high pitched and she is very goofy, kind of like our sweet little sister. I was watching the movie Land Before Time and the young dinosaur, Ducky, did the same sort of thing our Ducky did. They both say 'yep yep yep' in a high pitch voice. So somehow it stuck and Coach P started saying it and it became a big thing.”
The Lompoc, Calif. native stated that she wasn't too fond of the newfound nickname at first, but it's grown on her now that everyone with Duke women's basketball refers to her as Ducky.
Suggs stated “she definitely didn't like it at first and she actually didn't know who the character was or what it looked like, but it really wasn't her decision.”
The women's basketball team has an assortment of nicknames circulating during practices and games, ranging from “Ducky” to “Nay” to “Kenny.”
“We already have two people on the team with the nickname 'Nay' so we had to think of something different,” Suggs said.
When asked what she thought when Coach P and her teammates called her Ducky during practice and throughout games, she said “at first it was funny but now I take it seriously and it's pretty common.”
As a rookie, Ducky totaled her first collegiate double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds at Pepperdine. She also pulled down nine offensive rebounds, which is the second-most by a Duke freshman and tied for fourth most in a single game in school history.
While Odom has accepted her nickname inside the team, she says if people outside the team try to call her Ducky, she “quickly shuts them down.”
“It's fine inside the team but I don't like outside the team. If it has to do with basketball, I'm okay with it but outside of basketball is not okay.”
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