LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A former Division I baseball player from Las Vegas is preparing to tryout for the wildly popular Savannah Bananas this Saturday, combining his athletic skills with viral social media content that caught the team's attention.
WATCH | Meet John Howard Bobo, a Las Vegas candidate for the Savannah Bananas
John Howard Bobo, 24, who played for Basic High School and later at the College of Southern Nevada, has turned heads with both his baseball abilities and his "Banana Rap" videos that went viral on TikTok.
"Soon as I sent it, they invited me to the trial. The next day, wow," Bobo said.
The viral content that caught the Savannah Bananas' eye includes his "Banana Bo 2" rap song and an earlier video called "Banana Bo 1," where he raps about the unique entertainment style of Banana Ball.
The college graduate believes his Division I baseball background, combined with his flair for entertainment, makes him a perfect fit for the nationally popular Banana Ball phenomenon.
"The fact that they're able to play the game right and still do trick plays is mind boggling to me. I've been training a lot doing backflip catches, um, trick plays in the outfield, ground balls, and like you still have to make the play and baseball's hard. It's one of the hardest sports I think. And you still have to make the play... but you still have to be flashy and do TikTok dances and stuff," Bobo said.
To prepare for his audition, Bobo has been working on perfecting his back tuck at Cheer Cats with Cabria Kirby. He's also practiced backflip catches and the round off back tuck, spending a month and a half perfecting these skills.
The tryout process will be comprehensive, according to Bobo.
"You do this dance that's on the screen right here. Then you do your own like specialty. It's like you do trick plays in the outfield, infield, then you take batting practice and then it's like a scrimmage so you get to see like who can actually play with all the chaos going on because during the games music's playing 24/7 so you don't have time to like take a breath and reset like it's quick pace," he explained.
Bobo feels confident about his chances, saying his love for fast-paced play aligns perfectly with the Banana Ball style.
"I love playing fast, so I think it's perfect for me," Bobo said.
The tryout takes place in Los Angeles this Saturday, with Southern Nevada rooting for the local athlete's success.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.