Alize Johnson is making a pretty good name for himself around Missouri State and the Missouri Valley Conference.
Maybe enough of a name to even get people to pronounce it correctly. Right?
“No,” Johnson said with a laugh.
For the record, it’s “AL-luh-zay.” People around the program call him "Zay."
“I still get ‘A-LEEZE’ here and there, ‘A-LEE-Zay’ or whatever,” he said. “The announcers pronounce it right, and that’s good enough for me.”
It will be easy to get the word out about the pronunciation as the season goes on.
The 6-foot-9 junior from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, is one of the early front-runners for Valley Newcomer of the Year, and if he continues to develop while playing at a high level during the conference season, could be a legitimate candidate for league Player of the Year, as well.