Photo – Junior college transfer Levi Yancy (in bowtie, at left) joins fellow 2017 Northwestern State seniors (l-r) Zeek Woodley, Tra'von Joseph and Sabri Thompson, flanking head coach Mike McConathy, at the Demons' Senior Day ceremony before the season finale March 4 in Prather Coliseum.
 
NATCHITOCHES – During the just-completed Northwestern State basketball season, we gained good insight into senior Sabri Thompson.
 
Aside from his cracking the career 1,000-point barrier, finishing 26^th in school history in scoring and third with 192 3-pointers, Thompson emerged on the national scene as one of five major college recipients of the Allstate National Association of Basketball Coaches Good Works Team. His remarkable community service efforts during his time at NSU have earned him an upcoming trip to the Final Four and a deserved healthy dose of publicity focusing on his off-court persona.
 
His 3.73 grade point average will bring him a double-major degree in May. He's a leading candidate for Southland Conference Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year honors.
 
It's not as easy to paint a full picture of the Demons' other two four-year seniors, Tra'von Joseph and Zeek Woodley, who are soft-spoken country boys, Woodley from south DeSoto Parish and Joseph from Morrow, near Opelousas.
 
On the court, their identities were clear.
 
Joseph was the jack-of-all-trades, filling whatever role required, even banking in a nifty 6-foot turnaround with five seconds left to cap a career-best 19-point performance and make the difference in a Feb. 18 80-78 triumph at Nicholls.
 
Woodley's game proved epic from the outset. He was Southland Conference Freshman of the Year, then conference Student-Athlete of the Year the following season when his 3.3 GPA combined with the nation's No. 2 scoring average (22.2). He duplicated that rate as a junior and this season, even though a broken wrist sidelined him for 15 games, nearly all of the conference slate, Woodley became the Demons' all-time scoring king in the trio's final game March 4, appropriately with a slam dunk.
 
He's now in the final hours of the DarkHorseDunker.com finals, in a virtual tie in the race to get a trip to the Final Four and compete in the March 30 State Farm Slam Dunk Championships on ESPN. While Woodley's dunks are flamboyant, otherwise he's rather stoic on the court. Joseph calls him "almost nonchalant."
 
Their personalities are more "blend in" than "stand out" – except, as it turns out, around their teammates.
 
Then, Joseph and Woodley are the Demons most likely to be clowning around, said Thompson.
 
Joseph, called the squad's "glue guy" by veteran head coach Mike McConathy, is known by the nickname "PeeWee." Or perhaps on a given day, it's "Weezie" or even "Banana Chip."
 
"Most people think PeeWee is a shy guy, but he is really goofy," said Thompson. "He has probably 30 different nicknames for himself, like Tray, PeeWee, Trill Joseph, Little PeeWee, Tra'von the Grass Ain't Greener on the Other Side Joseph … you get the idea? He always has us laughing. He's a good guy with a good heart."
 
Said Woodley about his roommate: "He has so many names. On my phone, he's Pistol. He calls himself Banana Clip sometimes. It's always something."
 
For a guy who is a man of few words when faced with TV cameras, Joseph has no fear of microphones.
 
"He freestyle raps all the time," said Thompson. "He has a rap album that is supposed to come out."
 
Woodley chuckled softly recalling teammates waiting to hear the finished product all winter.
 
Explained Joseph: "I was in season, so I didn't want to lose focus. It's called 'No Limitations,' and it's going to get released soon."
 
Thompson, from Dover, Del., said Joseph made an immediate impression when they met moving into the University Columns four years earlier.
 
"He was so respectful to my mom, it was obvious he had good character, and he does," said Thompson, who sees Joseph staying connected to basketball after graduating with a psychology degree, perhaps as a personal trainer, or coach, a suggestion 'Weezie' embraced.
 
Basketball is obviously in Woodley's future, with a pro playing career seemingly certain, destination to be determined ("I'm hoping to not go overseas," he said).  But he cryptically tweeted early this season "basketball does not define me."
 
Maybe not, but aside from video games (he's extremely good, his fellow seniors said), an insatiable taste for boiled shrimp, and his penchant for playfulness, Woodley's fairly hoops-centered. Neither Thompson or Joseph knew what to make of him when they met as freshmen.
 
"When we first signed, he followed me on Instagram. I liked a few pictures of him dunking and making plays, and we got in a conversation," recalled Thompson. "I said I'd heard a lot about him, and he replied back that he hadn't heard anything about me. I wasn't sure if he was being cocky or funny. When I got down here, we just instantly connected. I understood him."
 
Joseph knew plenty about Woodley's accomplishments – he was a three-time small school state player of the year at Pelican All-Saints High School – but his first impression at NSU was puzzling.
 
"I thought he was mean, because he didn't talk too much," said Joseph. "Now he's talkative, funny, a great player, one of my best friends.
 
"He's different from everybody else. He has these special expressions that make you laugh without him saying a word. He never answers his phone. He'll answer a text, but if you call it's going to voice mail."
 
Woodley, on Joseph:
 
"He eats a lot. He has five meals a day, then he'll wake up at 3 in the morning, and if he doesn't have anything in his room, he'll come wake me up and ask what I have that he can eat. Candy, chips, anything."
 
Thompson said Woodley's tendency to entertain others extends to his wardrobe.
 
"He's going to clown around. He wears stuff on purpose to crack you up. But he definitely likes fashion."
 
Woodley has quite the collection of jerseys from all sports, along with something he and Joseph share, a love for stylish sports shoes. As for what he wears, Woodley admits he's easily influenced.
 
"I look at other peoples' styles and if I like it, I try it out. I'm big on jerseys, football, basketball, soccer. It's the look, not the team," he said. "My favorite player is Kobe Bryant and I have one of his No. 8 Lakers jerseys, the gold one, and I've never worn it. I'm just going to hold on to it."
 
While Woodley has been the Demons' go-to guy in the past two seasons, he regrets not being able to help dynamic point guard Jalan West complete his college career. Knee injuries each of the past two seasons sidelined West, who is targeting a return to action next winter.
 
West and Woodley combined to produce some of the most spectacular play in Demon basketball history. The connection they had extended off the court, and although West has been sidelined, the combo once billed by national media as "The J-Z Tour" maintains a competitive bond of a different sort.
 
"We're still close," said Woodley. "We used to play (computer) games, and he beat me last semester at NBA 2K, but I'm going to have to get a rematch before I go."
 
When he does depart to chase a pro career, he's hoping to make a run at the NBA, perhaps in the NBA Developmental League.
 
"I prefer to stay here and play, but if going overseas is best, I'll do it. It's going to be hard to leave my family and friends back home, but it's going to have to happen. I've had great support all my life and it's going to be very tough to move away from that."
 
Whether or not voting goes his way and carries him to the Final Four to compete in the dunk contest, Woodley won't remember his Demon days for all of the points he scored, the sensational slams, the clutch shots, the seemingly effortless excellence. That's how we will remember him, but his pride in pulling on the purple and white jerseys is rooted in the people alongside him.
 
"I had good teammates, and a good coach, who cared about you like you were his child. He's just a good person to be around. That's what matters most," he said.