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Kentucky center Willie Cauley-Stein changes name

By Patrick Schmidt

Apr 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Willie Cauley-Stein (15) reacts after a dunk against the Wisconsin Badgers in the first half of the 2015 NCAA Men
Apr 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Willie Cauley-Stein (15) reacts after a dunk against the Wisconsin Badgers in the first half of the 2015 NCAA Men /
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Former Kentucky center Willie Cauley-Stein changed his name to Willie Trill Cauley-Stein.

College basketball fans have gotten to know former Kentucky center Willie Cauley-Stein well in the last three years after his exploits on the court for the Wildcats, but get ready to start calling him by a new name.

Willie Cauley-Stein is now Willie Trill Cauley-Stein.

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, the future NBA lottery pick went to the Probate Division of the Fayette District Court to have his last name legally changed on Friday because he wanted to include his mother’s last name.

He was born Willie Durmond Cauley Jr. but wanted to legally add the last name of his mother, Marlene Stein, and he figured since he was already changing his last name that he may as well change his middle name too.

Stein said her son’s nickname is Trill, so the nickname is now legally his middle name.

For those who aren’t hip to the lingo, “trill” is the combination of true and real.

I was definitely one of those people who wasn’t hip to the lingo until last fall when former Texas A&M starting quarterback Kenny Hill said he wanted to people to call him “Kenny Trill” after he threw for 511 yards in the 2014 season opener for the Aggies.

Hopefully for the case of Cauley-Stein, he won’t face a similar downfall as Hill who lost his starting job and announced he is transferring to TCU last winter.

Cauley-Stein projects as a potential top-five pick in the NBA Draft later this year after he was named an All-American after averaging 8.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. Cauley-Stein was a key contributor for Kentucky’s team that went through the regular season undefeated and nearly pulled off an undefeated season before losing to the Wisconsin Badgers in the Final Four.

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