“I’m not nearly as skilled a basketball player as some of the other guys,” Segel says. “But I have a lot of bravado.”
Not to mention a made-for-the-highlight-reels dunk.
During Harvard’s two-week East Coast trip in December, Segel wowed a Florida crowd with a two-handed slam made with the front of his jersey pulled over his head. Before the dunk, Segel stood poised, calling for silence with outstretched arms. After the dunk, he dove headfirst into the stands.
“He put on an absolute show,” Da Costa said.
Segel also keeps the team loose with impressions of everyone from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Kermit the Frog. He even does Hilliard.
“You spend five minutes around Jason and he’ll come up with a pretty good impression of you,” Abusaleh said.
An aspiring actor, Segel has dabbled in bit parts and studied in England. After the season, Segel is scheduled to begin rehearsals for a school production in which he will deliver a 22-minute soliloquy on stage.
“I love getting up in front of people,” he says.
His most memorable moment this season? The dunk, of course. Not because he made it but because Jarron allowed him to. Jarron qualified for the competition ahead of Segel but deferred to his teammate.
“He knew it was something important to me, so he stepped back and let me do it,” Segel said. “I appreciated that.”
