Jalen Rose launches acting career in new Detroit-based TV show

• Ex-Michigan Wolverines star and Detroit native Jalen Rose is starring in a new sitcom called “South West High” on Tubi, which premiered Feb. 23.
• The show’s premise mirrors Rose’s life, featuring a former pro basketball player who becomes principal of his old Detroit high school.
• “South West High” is the first project from Same Page Entertainment, Rose’s new multimedia company co-founded with Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores.

Jalen Rose’s career started on the hardwood and transitioned to media as a sports analyst.

Now, the 53-year-old Detroit native is returning to the camera – in a different capacity.

Rose’s acting career launched officially Monday, Feb. 23, when his new show “South West High” premiered on Tubi. In it, he plays a former professional basketball player named Nolan Thomas who becomes the principal of his former Detroit-based high school.

If the premise sounds familiar, it’s because the story closely mirrors Rose’s own. He’s an alumnus of Detroit’s now-shuttered Southwestern High School, and starred at Michigan as a member of the iconic “Fab Five” before spending 13 seasons in the NBA. Rose also leads Detroit’s Jalen Rose Leadership Academy, founded in 2011.

The sitcom is created by Same Page Entertainment, Rose’s recently-launched Detroit-based multimedia company co-founded with Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores.

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“We’re really excited about highlighting the sacrifices that educators make, the challenges that students overcome but also some of the amazing stories of young people who are doing what they can to make their goals happen,” Rose told reporters at Little Caesars Arena on Monday night, before the Pistons’ 114-103 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. “We’re really excited about Same Page Entertainment and really excited for South West High.”

The show, partially filmed at JRLA, features plenty of Detroit flavor. It’s executively produced by Rose and Detroit-based designer Ty Mopkins, a longtime friend of Rose and fellow Southwestern alumnus.

Legendary Detroit rapper Royce da 5’9″ is the show’s music coordinator and co-produced the soundtrack.

“South West High” consists of five hour-long episodes that premiere each Monday, and is the first of several projects in the pipeline from Same Page Entertainment. It also is planning Rose’s new audio/video podcast, a documentary on the McDonald’s All-American Games and a new content studio in downtown Detroit.

“I’ve been on the phone with my attorney, he’s like, ‘You know you could just make Florida your residence and you can save on your taxes,’” Rose said. “‘What you’re spending on taxes in Detroit, you could actually buy a place in Florida.’ That’s a message that I can show you on my phone that I get every year, actually. But it’s so very important for me to be 10 toes down here and never change my driver’s license, not just be somebody that says ‘What’s up doe’ and wears an Old English D hat but actually lives here, puts on from here, employs people from here, boss up everywhere I go, represent our city and build a company here.

“There’s so many people here that depict Detroit but aren’t necessarily from here, live here or do it from here. It’s very important for [Gores] and for me to have a multimedia company that’s stationed in Detroit that’s going to highlight some of the amazing talent we have here.”

Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky and/or X @omarisankofa.

Make Omari’s podcast “The Pistons Pulse” your go-to Pistons show, and listen available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) or live on the Free Press’ YouTube page.