When my wife and I named Keita "Keita," there were many who thought it odd to name a tiny dog after 6' 10" center. Sometimes I heard (mostly from my own inner-monologue) that perhaps the name "Juli" was more apropos for someone that was so dainty and demure and enjoyed licking my face so much when given the opportunity, but somehow that felt like a disservice to the First Lady of Syracuse Basketball.

Still, I had my doubts about the name... until my wife and I did a DNA test for her. It turns out, Keita (the dog) and Keita (the player) seem to have more in common than meets the eye. Like her namesake, Keita (the dog) appears to possess the size of a Saint Bernard, the scrappiness of a Rottweiler, and the hypo-allergenic qualities of a Miniature Poodle.

So as you can see, the dog the rescue company told us was a Labradoodle, that I thought was some sort of Terrier mutt (and my wife thought had to be at least part Miniature Irish Wolfhound - if such a thing exists?), is actually 50% Miniature Poodle, 25% Great Dane, 11.5% Rottweiler, and almost 1% Akita. And while the act of a Saint Bernard/Rottweiler Mix and a Miniature Poodle having coitus is almost as disturbing as whatever sexual act allowed John Thompson Jr. to produce John Thompson III, the results in this case were much more appealing.

Original Update after the jump...

Last June, my wife and I rescued a dog. You guys helped me name her: Mookie Keita. It's been 9 months, so I figured it was time for an update.

We had a nice little recruiting visit with Keita when she was only 6 weeks old. She ran straight up to my wife, jumped on her lap, laid down in her arms, and proceeded to pee a little bit. I've loved her ever since.

When Keita arrived on campus, she was a skinny little thing. The rescue folks told us she was a labradoodle and would be HUGE, but our Keita is to a labradoodle as SU's Keita is to being a dominant offensive player.

We immediately had her working with a dietician, trying to bulk her up...

She turned out to be very coachable...

Although, she continues to leave her feet too much on defense...

Like her namesake, Keita has terrible paws, but unlike her namesake, she's still pretty adept at catching...

She's got a great sense of humor that her teammates really respond to. This is her impression of Anthony Davis...

This is her battling with Jonathan the Huskie Jack the Bulldog an Australian Shepherd. (Practice for battles she hopes to have in the future with Huskies and Hoyas, even if they're stuck in some really crappy dog park featuring crappy new dogs from Idaho and Texas.)

We were nervous about how she would get along with her new teammates, Harris and Flynn: the Niagara Connection!

They hazed the crap out of her at first, just like any other freshman...

But that eventually brought them closer together. Now Keita practices with them, trying to learn their moves...

Unfortunately, Keita doesn't have the all-around floor game of Flynn...

Or the leaping ability and hang-time of Harris...

But her decision-making may be better than his...

And what she lacks in hands, or offensive abilities, or strength, she more than makes up for in spirit and sweetness. You think Peyton Siva is the nicest guy in the Big East world? Keita will nice the crap out of Siva. She will straight up lick his face and cuddle up in his nook and fall asleep and make cute grunting noises while she has dog dreams...all over Peyton Siva.

Simply put, Keita (the dog) is the best. Now if only her namesake could start playing more like he did last year, perhaps I wouldn't confuse my dog by yelling, "What the !@#$ are you doing Keita?!" when I watch SU games with her.