There was slightly little bit of star energy sprinkled on the common drills on the UBC Thunderbirds males’s basketball staff observe Tuesday.
The playoff-bound squad was joined on the courtroom by an up-and-coming native actor, who has netted himself a significant function on Swagger, the AppleTV+ present impressed by the lifetime of Phoenix Suns star ahead Kevin Durant.
“The atmosphere just today, you could tell there was a different feel out there,” Thunderbirds captain Brian Wallack advised Global News.
“Guys were a lot more energized, a lot more high fives going on.”
Solomon Irama, 20, performs Phil Marksby, a tricky centre with a coronary heart of gold who performs alongside basketball prodigy Jace Carson, performed by Isaiah Hill.
A Vancouver native, Irama is not any stranger to basketball — he began enjoying at age three and was a member of the Vancouver Point Grey basketball staff in highschool.
“It’s truly amazing, man, it means a lot to me,” he mentioned, courtside, of the possibility to play with the native college squad.
“It’s definitely next level. A lot more like what I was seeing when I went to the ‘States to film Swagger … Great competition, fun time.”
Irama has movie credit courting again to when he was only one 12 months previous, however Swagger is his breakout function.
“It’s really been a journey, man,” he mentioned of touchdown the function.
“(The show) wants to tackle a lot of world problems … what it stands for, I am very proud to be a part of it.”
Along the way in which, he’s had an opportunity to satisfy Durant, who government produces the present.
“He’s a cool guy, a down-to-earth guy,” he mentioned of the NBA legend.
UBC males’s basketball head coach Kevin Hanson mentioned he’d began watching Swagger after Irama attended one of many staff’s video games earlier this season, and was happy to get to see him on the courtroom.
“One of the things we preach is trying to network with the community and to have someone of his status, being a television series celeb, it’s kind of fun, you can see the smiles on the guys’ faces and to have him interact and joking and have some fun is good,” he mentioned.
“I was wondering about what his basketball skills were going to be like. He actually is looking to attend university someday.”
Irama, for his half, appears intensely targeted on the place he’s proper now.
And with season two of Swagger within the books, he’s retaining a eager eye on whether or not it will get picked up for a 3rd.
“I have to do certain things, keep up my training, keep up my abilities,” he mentioned.
“There’s definitely differences (between basketball and acting) but there are similarities — for both things, you have to keep up your repetition… you’ve got to keep up the work, and never stop.”
It appears that work is paying off on the display screen, and to listen to the UBC squad inform it, on the courtroom as effectively.
“He’s a hooper too, by the way,” Wallack mentioned.
“He was hitting some hook shots from the foul line, his three-ball was falling too. He moves really well for a big man, we might have to pick him up at some point.”
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