Former Tennessee Vol Jarnell Stokes to Film Basketball Movie in Louisville

The headline of this post feels like a Mad Libs gone wrong. Nope, it’s actually real. Former Tennessee basketball player Jarnell Stokes is now a screenwriter and his latest movie is being filmed in Louisville, Kentucky.

For Kentucky basketball fans, Jarnell Stokes is Rorschach Test. When you hear that name, you instantly recall Jimmy Dykes repeating over an ESPN broadcast, “They had to teach him how to stretch!”

Stokes was a Top 25 recruit from Memphis who enrolled in the middle of the 2011-12 college basketball season. He became eligible just in time to make his debut against the second-ranked Cats, who of course, defeated the Vols 65-62 at the Food City Center. Remember those details.

Even though he couldn’t stretch, the beefy power forward was a problem for three years in the SEC. An All-Freshman Selection, he ended up becoming a First Team All-SEC power forward who set the Tennessee school record for offensive rebounds. After being picked in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft, he spent six years bouncing around between the NBA, G League and overseas.

Following his basketball days, Stokes got into screenwriting. His company “Stoked Bros” has produced quite a few features, including an upcoming one starring Cuba Gooding Jr.

This new project is “deeply personal” to Stokes. Titled “Rocky Top College,” it’s clearly a fictional biopic of Stokes’ basketball career, with Bel-Air star Jabari Banks as the protagonist.

“Directed by Jamal Hill (Sins of the Father), ‘Rocky Top College’ follows the harrowing journey of Zion Williams, a young African American basketball prodigy from Memphis,” writes Variety.

“After being suspended during his highly anticipated senior year, the nation’s No. 1 ranked prep phenom shocks the sports world by enrolling in a small-time college to continue his quest for NBA stardom. But once on campus, a series of peculiar and disturbing events has him questioning his decision whilst fighting to hold onto his fleeting sanity.”

Yes, he used the name “Zion Williams” for his star basketball player. Never heard that one before.

The part that jumped off the page is that they’re shooting the film in Louisville, beginning this month. Who knows, maybe Shannon the Dude can land a spot as an extra and show Stokes how to stretch those hamstrings before the director yells, “ACTION!”

Download the KSR/On3 App for all things KSR, including breaking news alerts, podcasts, schedules, and access to KSBoard, our message board.