Eddie Merenda

Nickname: The Prodigal Son

Born: January 2, 1994

Died: -

Background: Eddie Merenda grew up in Pleasant Valley, New York, racing past sorry competitors en route to All-American status as an Arlington Admiral, scoring legions of maroon and gold fans along the way. Merenda has brought the same tenacity to his Duke career, dishing out profound BME research and long-distance runs by day and high-quality bumper pool by night. He was once rumored to have said "I'm working 40 hours a week, running 80 miles a week. There's no Kaustav time in there." However, Kaustav time was made during Bump Madness, as Merenda calmly dispatched Kaustav Shah in the Pod 4 Championship to join Syed Adil and Kyla Babson as the only non-pod leaders to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. To achieve ranked status, he battled through an epic 7-game series against Mehul Mehta, setting the stage of a Merenda-Mehta matchup trilogy reminiscent of Ward-Gatti or Ali-Frazier. Merenda is widely known as one of the fastest rising players in the game. After defeating Katsis and advancing to the Elite 8 of Bump Madness 2015, Eddie cemented a true Cinderella story, and his nickname as The Prodigal Son.

Strengths: Tremendous bumper pool IQ, refined bililards shot-making, bump and jump shots

Weaknesses: Relatively new to the game, occasionally susceptible to the Murph Zone

Slogan: -

Face or Heel? Though yet undecided, Merenda looks destined for top-face status, with the likes of Jonah Yousif and Tyler Glass.