Nebraska Cornhuskers: Sam Griesel begins his acting career

Former Nebraska Cornhuskers star Sam Griesel has had one heck of a year. The transfer guard who spent most of his basketball career elsewhere was quite the conquering hero when he came back to Lincoln and the Nebraska basketball team. And now his life post-college career is quite interesting as well.

Amie Just of the Lincoln Journal Star reports that Griesel has scored a role in an upcoming Netflix movie produced by none other than Lebron James. And Griesel knows how good he’s got it. He’s enjoying the heck out of all the good things that happened.

"“I used to love sleep. Now, I don’t like sleep because I just want to go to the next day. Every day is so exciting. There’s new things happening, new avenues. Every day is a blessing with a lot of opportunities.”"

One of those opportunities came after a woman DM’d him on Instagram, describing the Netflix movie he eventually signed on with.

The film, titled “Rez Ball” focuses on a Native American basketball squad that is aiming to win the New Mexico state championship. The flick is based on Michael Powell’s 2019 novel, “Canyon Dreams.”

While Sam Griesel has been a hero to Nebraska Cornhuskers fans since coming back to Lincoln after leaving after high school, his character in “Rez Ball” is apparently a racist who is described as a “6-foot-7 Ivan Drago.” For those who somehow missed “Rocky III” Drago is the Russian antagonist with a very blonde shock of short hair, who “must break” Rocky on behalf of his communist homeland.

Nebraska Cornhuskers star embraces baddie role

For his part, the former Nebraska Cornhuskers guard said that he wasn’t thrilled about the idea of his first acting role being of a racist. But he came to understand that considering the film was about a Native American basketball team, the character was an important addition.

“It’ll be really cool to be a part of telling that story and being able to talk about it.”