The Win Column: Spudd Webb makes his own name

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Hey y’all.

Wanna wander a little off the beaten path to start things off this week?

There’s someone you should meet.

DON’T CALL HIM TATER HEAD

Georgia Southern's Spudd Webb during a December game against James Madison.

Spudd Webb knows what you’re thinking.

“Every road trip we go on,” the Georgia Southern basketball star said, “I get at least three people asking me am I kin to the real Spud Webb.”

He isn’t.

The nickname (duplicate D’s and all) has nothing to do with the diminutive Hawks dunker of yesteryear. It predates the younger Webb’s hooping days altogether.

And make no mistake: At 6-foot-4, the Eagles’ new leading scorer — already a two-time Sun Belt Player of the Week — has a good 8 or 9 inches on his pint-sized predecessor.

But, like the original Spud, he’s always been a bit of an underdog.

In the beginning

As the story goes, Webb’s grandfather originally took to calling him Tater Head (who knows why; it’s what we do with kids). But after the boy’s friends started snickering, Gramps shifted to a more succinct potato reference. It stuck.

The spelling came years later … courtesy of a sixth grade art teacher.

Webb says everyone knew him as Spud by then, but he still signed his real name (or Shone, a shortened version of his middle name) on school papers. The teacher wrote “Spudd” on a project one day. He liked it and (yoink) adopted it as his own.

Then he started playing ball.

Spud Webb: Winner of the 1986 NBA slam dunk contest ... and not the inspiration for Spudd Webb's name.

By eighth grade, Webb was a member of Hart County High School’s JV squad. By sophomore year, a top-50 player in the state.

As a senior? His school’s leading all-time scorer.

But the scholarship offers weren’t coming in.

“Every year of my recruitment,” he said, “it was a different excuse.”

• Too small.
• Too skinny.
• Too old-school, in terms of playing style.

Some bigger schools encouraged him to come be a “culture guy” (translation: ride the bench).

No thanks.

“That’s been the story of my life, you know? People just saying, ‘Put him on the back burner, and if what we got planned doesn’t go well, we’ll come back to him,’ type of deal.”

Webb ended up with offers from three small schools in Georgia.

He landed at Division-II Emmanuel College, about 20 minutes west of his hometown in Hartwell.

Frustration … and growth

This was right in the heat of COVID. One of Emmanuel’s star guards was opting out, leaving an opening for Webb.

Or so he thought.

Midway through the preseason, that star changed his mind — and Webb wound up redshirting.

He admits he got depressed.

And then he got to work.

“That kind of started my journey,” he said. “That year I just practiced and practiced and shot and dribbled and practiced and lived it, all day every day.”

The growth begat accolades: conference freshman of the year, defensive first team, all-conference first team.

Then the transfer portal and a fresh start in Statesboro.

A new home

Webb wasn’t sure he could play D-I ball. A childhood friend, Georgia Southern graduate assistant Ben Edwards, convinced him otherwise.

He was … quite right.

Webb’s 16.4 points per game are sixth-best in the Sun Belt. He leads the Eagles in assists and steals, too, and pulls down the second-most rebounds.

• Check out an early-season highlight reel

At 4-1 in conference, Webb figures they’ve got a real shot at winning a title — and sneaking their way onto the March Madness stage.

If they get there, just don’t expect anything too flashy.

This ain’t your granddaddy’s Spud.

“I’m a simple two-hand dunk guy, and get back on defense,” Webb said this week, flashing a signature toothy grin. “I’m not the fastest guy in the world, so I don’t got time to celebrate and do all that stuff.”

COACH? GM? NAH. WE’RE ON UNI WATCH

The full-time uniforms Atlanta deserves.

All right, now it’s time to tackle the most pressing Falcons question of the week:

What will the new jerseys look like?

If you missed it, the team posted a rather cryptic video earlier this week that sure seems to suggest some different duds will be announced in April.

I think I speak for the entire fan base when I say it’s past time to ditch any remnants of the “let’s look all futuristic for the new millennium” vibes and go with something a little more timeless. A little less … video game-y.

As far as I’m concerned, give us the non-aerodynamic falcon, the blocky numbers and those immaculate red helmets every Sunday.

I’ve also seen some folks suggesting they’d like to see silver pants (which the team wore for three decades or so) make a comeback. Not sure I’m sold on that part, but hey — sartorial beggars can’t be sartorial choosers.

🔗 While we wait, some coverage of the more important stuff:

• Matt Ryan, football prez, meets the press
• Explaining the Falcons’ new front office structure
• Live updates: Is Mike Tomlin a target?

PEACH STATE CFP PRIDE

Curt Cignetti is a better coach than Kirby Smart, and Carson Beck is better than Gunner Stockton.*

Now that we’ve sufficiently rage-baited Georgia fans, let’s talk about Monday night’s College Football Playoff national championship game.

Specifically how our fair state is represented.

As you can see, our data buddy Rahul Deshpande found that 12 Miami players and 10 Indiana players suited up for a Georgia high school. Not shocking numbers, per se, but it does rank just below each CFP team’s home state, percentage wise.

A few names of note:

• Keelan Marion (Mountain View, before moving to South Carolina) and CJ Daniels (Parkview) are Miami’s second and third most productive receivers, behind phenom Malachi Toney.
• All Indiana defensive end Daniel Ndukwe (Arabia Mountain) did against Oregon in the semifinal was record two sacks, a forced fumble and a blocked punt.

Not too shabby.