GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- After two years at Florida,
Jalen Tabor is ready for a change.
Tabor wants to reconnect with his old self. Goodbye Jalen, hello Teez.
"If you call me Teez, you know me,'' he said. "If you call me Jalen, you just know of me."
Gator fans certainly know Tabor. He is a preseason All-American and one of the most popular players on the team. Still, Tabor has officially requested the UF communications office and media refer to him as Teez Tabor, effective immediately.
Tabor said friends and family began referring to him as Teez in middle school. He prefers the name over Jalen and is used to it, which is at the heart of his request.
"That's what I go by,'' he said. "That's what everyone calls me."
A close look at Tabor's right forearm proves how much the name means. He has "Teez" tattooed on the arm, but among the many tattoos that cover his torso, you won't find "Jalen" in ink.
Tabor credits his younger brother Roger as the primary reason those who know him best call him Teez. In seventh grade Tabor and three other friends created a MySpace page for their group named the "Eezy Boyz." Eventually, MySpace wasn't so popular with his middle-school friends and they deleted the page.
However, Roger continued to call Jalen by the nickname, first Teezy and finally Teez. Roger used it mostly to tease Jalen in games of Madden or one-on-one hoops.
"He knew that would get me irritated,'' Tabor said. "It would make me mad."
Soon, the name stuck and Tabor stamped it for approval.
What does Merri Tabor, his mom, think about the name change?
"He can do it,'' she said. "It wasn't really a big deal [when he told me]."
Plus, mom usually calls Teez by another name: Bud.
