There’s more than one basketball player from Huntington living the dream, but in a completely different venue.
Former Spring Valley High School athlete David Alley is taking his hoops knowledge to the small screen as a regular on the CW’s “One Tree Hill.” His stint on the popular series has led to a possibly recurring role on Lifetime’s smash hit “Army Wives.” Alley also found out this week that he landed speaking roles in two more episodes during the upcoming sixth season of “One Tree Hill.” The new season premieres in September.
Not too shabby for the former aspiring dentist, now only 18 months into his acting career.
“It was just going to be a summer where I tried it (acting) out. I didn’t want to regret not trying it, so I decided I was just going to go for it and see what happened,” said the 2002 graduate who relocated to Wilmington, N.C., commonly referred to as “Hollywood East.”
Alley said his desire to perform should come as a surprise to no one who knows him. Despite his love for athletics growing up, Alley remained interested in acting and musicals and was a frequent performer at weddings and talent shows.
“You know, there wasn’t time to do both athletics and acting, but I was always trying to be an entertainer,” he said.
Alley was a city kid living in town with his parents Hugh and Marlene Alley, sister Miko and brother Jon, until they relocated to a family farm in Prichard. Alley left his friends from Huntington High, entered Spring Valley High School and graduated from there. He entered Marshall to work toward a degree in biology and transferred to West Virginia University to finish and apply for dental school.
“You know how college is. I was just trying to figure everything out — what I wanted to do, what I didn’t want to do, and I decided to take that summer and move and see what it would be like,” he said. “It was just an experience at first, and my parents definitely weren’t excited about it at first, but they’re all about it now.
” ‘One Tree Hill’ was the first audition I ever went to and it was a really exciting time.”
Alley’s role on “One Tree Hill” is as a high school basketball player — No. 24. The nature of the show means that Alley is included in nearly every episode and has the potential for more speaking parts in upcoming episodes. His work on the CW show helped propel him to a role in a few commercials, movies and a promising role on “Army Wives.”
“I play the best friend of one of the main characters. It’s a real character with speaking lines named Dalton. It’s a really good role, and I’m hoping in the next month or so that it will lead to more episodes,” explained Alley, who drives three hours to the “Army Wives” filming location in Charleston, S.C. “To be able to be a regular on a show like this can only lead to bigger things.”
Already the roles have enabled Alley, who is half Filipino, to make a trip to the Philippines to visit his mother’s culture and see the roots he came from.
“I did a few shoots and commercials while I was there, and I just wanted to see where I came from,” he said.
He also hasn’t given up his West Virginia roots, saying he misses his friends and family and just being “home.”
“I’ve been in Huntington all my life, and now I’m nine hours away, and I’m not getting back as much as I’d like. I’m trying to get my friends and family to make trips down here, but I miss being there,” he said. “Some of my friends and teachers have e-mailed, though, about the shows. They know all about it, and they’re watching for me. That’s pretty cool.”
Alley can be seen regularly on “One Tree Hill” and on Episode 4 “Leaving the Tribe” of “Army Wives.” He played Sgt. Dalton Wilkins. Visit www.lifetimetv.com for more information.
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