TikTok basketball star Jake West has more than 1 million followers. He showed heart at a playground event.

Cherub-cheeked from exertion, Jake West drove into the lane, scooped a layup off the backboard, and got fouled on the outdoor courts lined with onlookers at Wentz Run Park in Blue Bell Saturday night.

Momentum sent West, the social media influencer with more than a million followers on TikTok, careening toward a group of girls standing under the basket.

West, 17, deftly avoided a collision, but slightly nudged the side of one girl who quickly became the envy of her friends, who playfully embraced the arm that West had brushed.

“OMG,” one uttered, “he just touched you!”

West clearly makes hearts throb, but at Saturday’s park takeover event hosted by social media giant Overtime, West showed that he has heart on the court.

“He likes to be known as a basketball player first versus TikTok,” said West’s mom, Shannon, standing along the sideline of the crowded court.

“I think he gets nervous sometimes about that. He wants to be seen seriously as a basketball player.”

(This story has been updated since West announced his intention to attend Penn Charter)

For the last few years, park-takeover events have sprouted in the U.S. and around the globe through various social media platforms. Last month, a park takeover even occurred in Australia.

Often, a hooper with social media credibility challenges area ballers to bring their best five players at a specific time and locale to compete against his squad.

West’s group included La Salle forward and former Archbishop Wood standout Daeshon Shepherd, who dazzled Saturday’s crowd with an array of dunks that left eyes wide and jaws dropped.

Twins Kaseem and Kareem Watkins, who both played at West Catholic and are now forwards at Cal State Bakersfield, were also on West’s team. The squad lost its first pick-up game, but won its next five, including avenging its lone loss.

West, a junior who will play at Penn Charter next season after seasons at Archbishop Carroll and Plymouth-Whitemarsh, could have played it safe and let his college teammates carry the load.

Instead, he battled all comers, accepting challenges from anyone trying to earn popularity against a social media star.

“Honestly that comes from when he was young,” Matt West said of his son. “We just took him to any gym in Philly … We didn’t shield him from anything. We just threw him in there and said, ‘You gotta figure it out.’”

The culture of playground basketball, going back generations, almost demands trash talk.

Park “law” dictates, however, that you can’t just talk about it. You also have to be about it.

So, one particularly mouthy onlooker stepped on the court after consistently heckling West’s performance.

West toyed with the talker before eventually blowing past him, exploding for a layup, and getting mobbed by cheering fans who had crowded the court. Several times West also drove to the basket with reckless abandon, falling hard on the concrete before popping up to do it all again. His night ended after a cramp in his calf followed a driving dunk that thrilled the crowd.

That brand of showmanship likely would not have happened before his TikTok took off.

“He used to be super shy,” Shannon explained. “I definitely think this TikTok thing kind of got him out of his shell for sure.”

In some ways, West is still shy, she continued. It might not make sense given more than 1 million accounts seemingly follow his every move.

There is a difference, his parents suggested, between the dances that initially made him popular about two years ago and being more outgoing in public.

“I feel like he’s still a little shy,” said Shannon, who spent much of Saturday passing out water, giving away pretzels, and picking up trash.

Handling online negativity hasn’t always been easy for West. Back in February, negative comments nearly pushed him to quit the social media app. He told his parents it was no longer fun.

“We said, ‘You’re in control of all this,’” Shannon said. “We don’t take any money for it. We don’t let him make any money off of it because we’re like, ‘It’s just for fun.’ The minute you monetize something you don’t have fun anymore.”

So his parents told him to stop, if that’s what he truly wanted. Matt also suggested to his son that there was a way to focus on the people who enjoyed his content instead of dwelling on the negativity.

West, who had 250,000 followers in September, contemplated his dad’s message, left his parent’s bedroom, and made another dance video. College coaches have also noticed his moves on the court. West has scholarship offers from Drexel, Mississippi State, Fairfield, and Lafayette, while several others have shown interest.

» READ MORE: George School point guard Christian Bliss commits to Virginia

His little brother, Luke, 13, is also on TikTok. Luke “coached” his brother’s team on Saturday, but also subbed in once, drew up a play, and made a game-winning three-pointer.

“This is fun,” Shannon said. “I think it’s sweet because [West] loves the game and he plays with his whole heart.

“People embrace it and they really cheer him on. For the most part, it’s really positive. It’s awesome to get that type of affection back when you love something as much as he does.”