College basketball fans recognized a familiar face while watching the third season of the hit Netflix series Outer Banks. Armando Bacot — the 6-foot, 11-inch forward from the North Carolina Tar Heels — made his acting debut in the show.
The series is set on Kildare Island in North Carolina’s Outer Banks — a cluster of islands off the coast of North Carolina — where a group of Pogues (poor families) have become amateur treasure hunters. Their quest for lost treasure often puts them at odds with the Kooks (rich families), resulting in a lot of conflict throughout the series.
The third season has just about everyone in the series searching for the lost city of El Dorado, known worldwide as the City of Gold. After John B. (Chase Stokes) gets in trouble with the law (again), JJ (Rudy Pankow) — ever the planner and fixer — seeks passage to South America from drug smuggler Barracuda Mike. Mando, Barracuda Mike’s hired muscle, is portrayed by the oversized Bacot, who towers over Pankow and Stokes. The scene takes place in episode eight’s “Tapping the Rudder.”
Series creator Josh Pate, a 1992 graduate of the University of North Carolina, pulled some strings to score a cameo by Bacot, the Tar Heel’s golden boy has the team record for most double-doubles in program history, as well as the most career rebounds. Inside Carolina editor Ross Martin posted screenshots from Bacot’s Instagram video with the two stars of the series — taken on the Outer Banks set — which is shot in Charleston, South Carolina.
Fans of the series took notice of the basketball star’s cameo and took to social media to express their excitement about seeing their favorite basketball player on the Netflix series.
Here’s to hoping it’s more than just a cameo.