By Laura Amato
Ron Naclerio’s resume is packed with games and victories and history. It now also includes something he never quite expected – an acting career.
The long-time Cardozo High School basketball coach made his on-air debut earlier this month, appearing in a NY Lottery commercial and an April 13 spot on the CBS drama “Bull.”. Naclerio didn’t quite plan on having an acting career, but he’s already anxious to book a few more gigs. After all, he’s still got some space on that resume.
“I got a phone call saying they liked the stuff I did,” Naclerio said of his stint on The Cash Court commercial. “It was great.”
Naclerio’s transition to TV started because of his basketball ties at ‘Dozo. One of his former players, Ryan Williams, has built a career as a basketball body double, working with Slam Dunk Bookings, LLC, and playing hoops or doing stunts when TV shows and movies need a bit of an athletic spark.
Williams spoke to his boss, Susan Torres, about the possibility of using Naclerio when bookings needed a coach. It it only took a few phone calls for Torres to realize he was the perfect man for the job.
“[Ryan] said, ‘I think you should maybe check out my coach from high school’,” said Torres, who owns Slam Dunk Bookings. “I called him, we talked a little bit, and I said ‘OK, you do have a personality and maybe I could start using you for print work, commercials, TV and film.’ ”
Those few phone conversations became a brand-new job, and Naclerio quickly found himself standing on an outdoor basketball court in Manhattan with money raining down on him. Now, the spot is making the commercial break rounds, and Naclerio’s latest phone conversations are friends calling to tell him they’ve seen him on TV.
“I’m on three different ones,” Naclerio said. “There’s a 30-second one, a minute and some time and then a two-minute one.”
On “Bull,” Naclerio showed what he does best: coaching. The experience – which featured Naclerio on the sidelines at Barclays Center, playing a basketball coach – was unlike anything Naclerio had ever experienced before, but he relished the opportunity to do something different.
“They had me and a couple of the guys I knew running out of the tunnel, and then we were on the court, running a couple of plays,” Naclerio said. “Who knows what’ll end up on TV, but it was cool.”
It was a jam-packed day, filming for more than 12 hours, but Naclerio did get a chance to show off just a bit to his co-stars, making sure to point out a very specific photo hanging in the hallways of the Barclays Center.
“What I enjoyed was spending some hours on the court,” he said. “I went in the back of Barclays Center and they have pictures from every major event and of course I went and I took a picture of the Cardozo game.”
Naclerio doesn’t have any plans to quit his day job – already prepping for next season with the Judges – but he’s enjoyed his time in front of the camera and the opportunity to add another bullet point to that resume.
“You never know what life’s going to bring you,” Naclerio said. “If I can’t play or coach, then maybe this will work.”
