What Basketball Team Did Pepe From Love Island USA Play For? His Career Is Not What You Think
Jason Pham
As one of two professional basketball players on Love Island USA Season 7, there’s a lot of interest in Pepe’s professional basketball career before he entered the villa, and what team he played for. Well, after fans did a deep dive into his pro past, his sports career may not be what you expect.
Jose “Pepe” Garcia, a 27-year-old from Santa Ana, California, joined Love Island USA Season 7 on Day 9 as a bombshell along with Iris Kendall and Jalen Brown. He was coupled up with Hannah Fields, a 23-year-old from Tucson, Arizona, on Day 11 after a public vote from America, leading to the dramatic dumping of Hannah’s previous partner, Charlie Georgiou.
Related: All the Love Island USA couples who are still together
After Hannah was dumped on Day 16, Pepe went on to couple up with Gracyn Blackmore, a Casa Amor bombshell who joined on Day 17, before she was dumped on Day 24. He then coupled up with his bombshell sister Iris on Day 26 after her partner, TJ Palma, was dumped on Day 24.
Pepe sparked interest in his professional basketball career in the July 8, 2025, episode of Love Island USA when the cast played a game of basketball outside of the villa. Read on for what to know about his basketball past below.
What basketball team did Pepe play for before Love Island USA?
Pepe played professional basketball for CD Enrique Soler Melilla, a third-tier team in the Segunda FEB League in Spain, where he’s from. He was on the team for one season from 2022 to 2023. According to Real GM, Pepe—who is 6’3″—played a total of 126 minutes with CD Enrique Soler Melilla and scored a total of 52 points with the team. The site also reported that he was declared for the 2021 NBA draft but went undrafted.
Before his professional career, Pepe was on his college basketball team at Cal State Fullerton, where he played as a guard for two games from 2017 to 2019, according to ESPN. His total time on the court was nine minutes, and he scored a total of seven points between his two games. His jersey number for Cal State Fullerton was 15. He also played basketball for his high school, Los Alamitos High School, in Los Alamitos, California.
Pepe revealed he was a professional basketball player in Season 7, Episode 10 of Love Island USA after he joined the show as a bombshell, along with Iris Kendall and Jalen Brown. “I just retired. I played six years of pro basketball,” he said. “Just retired from that. Opened up a gym and an after-school program.”
Pepe also isn’t the only professional basketball player from Love Island USA Season 7. Chris Seeley, a bombshell who joined Love Island USA Season 7 during Casa Amor, is a current professional basketball player and plays for the Indonesian basketball league team, Rajawali Meda. “Do what you love & love what you do,” Chris captioned a series of photos of himself wearing his Rajawali jersey on Instagram.
Before that, Chris played basketball in France for the Mulhouse team. In college, he played for the University of Utah from 2017 to 2018 where he attended his freshman year. He later transferred to Fresno State, where he played as a forward until 2020. He then played for California State University, Dominguez Hills, from 2021 to 2022. (Chris is originally from Fresno, but currently lives in Los Angeles, California.)
Chris joinedd his current team in Indonesia in January 2025, just months before he entered the villa on Love Island USA Season 7. “Indonesia IBL We are excited to announce that our new player, Chris Seeley, has joined the Indonesian league team Rajawali Medan!” Asia Elite Sports wrote in an Instagram post at the time. “Big thanks to the team for their trust and to local agent Alvin for helping make this signing happen smoothly Chris Seeley is a 6’8’’ Combo Forward with a solid three-point shot and great scoring ability in the paint. He has a strong body and amazing jumping ability, making him a versatile and competitive player.”
The post continued, “We are happy to have met Chris and believe in his potential. We promise to support his growth and success in the Asian market Welcome to Asia Elite Sports, Chris! Let’s work together to help you become an even better player and achieve great things!
Love Island USA streams on Peacock.
