(First of all... OMG Real Genius! The popcorn scene was awesome.)
Ahem, getting back to the topic....
Honestly? I think Marcus' PB was the inspiration for him. I wanted to create an OC whom Mercedes would find impossibly annoying at first (for all that Taming of the Shrew-style UST goodness) - that means he would have attitude and some degree of wit. And when I tried thinking of a PB for a goofy basketball player, I couldn't think of anyone else, so I borrowed Rabeh's face along with most of his personality.