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Morrison, Fuller, LeSure, Cherrier

Eye-Say-Uh

Call them Hollywood, Baby Wood, Zeke, Zay, ZayZay, Zay3 or Cherry or simply “Eye-Say-Uh.”

Call out the name "Eye-Say-Uh" in the Western Illinois football locker room, and four young men will look up in response. There's Isaiah LeSure, Isaiah Cherrier, Izaiah Fuller, and Isaiah Morrison and a distinction must be made by using nicknames, though not everyone is on board with that theirs is. 

"We call [Morrison] "Baby Wood," Lesure said laughing. "Everyone on the team calls him that. Baby of the team. Baby Wood."

Before LeSure could even finish his statement, it was quickly objected by the youngest member of the Leatherneck program, who at 17 years old, swore by the nickname Hollywood.  

"What's my name on the depth chart?" Morrison responded. 

As LeSure rattled off his nicknames - Zeke, Freaky Zeke, the Freak, Zay2, and Zay –  jokes started to fill the room, and it became clear that the four share more than a name. 

This is a brotherhood. 

"Wow, he can be Freaky Zeke, but I can't be Hollywood," Morrison interjected. "I've never called you Freaky Zeke. We call you Zeke."

On the field, LeSure and Fuller suit up as wide receivers, Cherrier plays running back, and Morrison is a cornerback. Though they represent different units, the knowledge shared has helped each of them grow in their own play. 

The wideouts are the oldest of the group -- both entering their senior seasons -- and hope to use their experiences to help Cherrier, who is the youngest of his position group, and Morrison who's receiving his first taste of football at the collegiate level. 

"I just want everybody to feel like they can come and talk to me about any issue," said Fuller. "I try to make sure that I know every play so in case someone's like 'Oh Zay, what happens here or here?' I can give them insight. I just want to be someone my teammates can come to, even off the field. I know being a senior, people look up to you because you're older, so I try to keep a good image for them." 

"I think of Zay [Fuller] and Zeke [LeSure] as leaders so if they come out with energy than I feel like I have to come out with energy too," said Morrison. "It's like if they're going 100 percent, I have to go 100 percent. If they are doing their routes full speed, then I know I have to go full speed, because they don't take a play off. It's things like that that help me move forward." 

The four came to Western Illinois from all over the Midwest – Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio – but are quite similar in personalities. 

When asked to name a few things each of them share, without missing a beat, they smiled and responded with a sense of humor. There's also a lot of Fortnite and dancing. 

"We have similar characteristics. We like to laugh and listen to the same music like hip-hop and R&B," said Cherrier.

"One thing I can say about us [pointing to Fuller and Cherrier], is we love our hair," added LeSure. "We love our hair, we put extra time and care into our hair, and we share products occasionally." 

"You normally gravitate towards people that act like you or have the same interests, and that's how we are," said Fuller. 

Cherrier became one of Morrison's first friends at Western when the two lived as next-door neighbors during preseason camp. The younger Isaiah kept to himself in his room until Cherrier forced him out of his shell, introducing him to the joys of not only camp but the college experience. 

"I wanted to stay in my room because I am so young and didn't want to get into trouble or make a wrong mistake or anything like that. When I was introduced to Isaiah, he forced me to come out of my room, basically taking me out of my comfort zone a little bit to actually enjoy college." 

Fuller and LeSure were also paired together at camp during their sophomore seasons and currently share an off-campus house together. The two can recall several stories both on and off the field and are so close that when disagreements occur, nicknames are out of the window.

"When we know someone is in the wrong, we don't call each other by our nicknames. I call him Fuller or Zay3 or whatever, but when he's wrong, it's Izaiah. Izaiah Fuller," LeSure says with a deep voice. 

"He doesn't say that often. You know, I'm not wrong often," laughed Fuller. "But yeah, with him it's like 'Isaiah John, relax.'

You may call them Hollywood, Baby Wood, Zeke, Zay, ZayZay, Zay3, Cherry or simply "Eye-Say-Uh."
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