Some Magic for Penn Basketball (with a side of Kukoc): UPDATED with quotes

It's been Celebrity Friday here at the Palestra for the past couple weeks, with some notable NBA stars stopping by.

Yesterday, it was Hall of Famer Earvin "Magic" Johnson. He came by during practice and talked to the team for 15-20 minutes. His son was visiting the school and he paid a visit to the Palestra while the team was warming up. Magic, of course, has a firm place in Penn basketball lore, as his Michigan State team knocked Penn out of the 1979 Final Four, ending the greatest Tourney run in Quakers history.

Last week, it was three-time NBA title winner and former Sixth Man of the Year Toni Kukoc. He stopped by practice and hung out with the team for a while.

Read on to see what sophomore Mike Howlett had to say about the visit.

"I guess he was just walking on campus, walking in the Palestra. When Magic Johnson walks onto a basketball court, you gotta give him all the respect in the world. He’s one of the greatest of all time. He was able to talk to us for a couple minutes. It was just really special to hear his thoughts on life and basketball."

When asked if he knew that Magic would be coming by, he said the team had no idea. Their reaction was disbelief:

"He walked in with a little bit of his entourage and his family. Warm-ups just stopped. Everyone was like, ‘Is that Magic Johnson? Why is he in the Palestra right now?’ It was definitely something I’ll always remember, just being able to share the court with someone like Magic Johnson."

When questioned about what he talked about, Howlett said it covered a few areas:

"Everything that he’s ever learned, how he got to where he was, what it was like for him at that top level, and the kind of dedication and the passion for the game you need to really succeed...He said this is your home floor, when someone comes into your house, you gotta make sure they leave feeling that they just played in the Palestra and that you have to command from each other a new level of dedication and passion for the game to go out there and come out on top of the Ivy League"