La Salle representing a few former Quakers in the Sweet 16

While Penn basketball’s season came to a close two weeks ago, there is one Big 5 team keeps on going.

                                                                                                                                                               La Salle, which won a share of the Big 5 Title this season, is still dancing, having won three games to make the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

The Explorers' run began in Dayton as one of the final four teams into the tournament, where they defeated Boise State to get into the main field of 64.

                                                                                                                                                                               Next up was a trip to Kansas City, where the 13th-seeded Explorers pulled out two close victories over fourth-seeded Kansas State and 12th-seeded Ole Miss.

                                                                                                                                                               But this La Salle team has some firm connections with the Red and Blue other than simply playing in the Big 5.

                                                                                                                                                           Senior center Garvin Hunt, who has not played during the NCAA Tournament run, is a College of Arts and Sciences graduate and was a commit under former coach Glen Miller. The Bahamas native played six games for the Quakers in 2008-09 before deciding to quit playing basketball while at Penn.

                                                                                                                                                             After graduating in 2012 with a degree in Architecture. Hunt used the fifth-year graduate transfer rule to become eligible to play at La Salle this season. The redshirt senior forward had two points and three rebounds in La Salle’s 74-57 victory over Penn on Jan. 5.

                                                                                                                                                                Hunt isn’t the only member of the La Salle program that used to be a member of the Red and Blue, as two members of the Explorer’s coaching staff were part of Penn basketball in the mid-2000s.

Harris Adler came to Penn in 2002-03 as a member of former coach Fran Dunphy’s staff. He worked his way up from head coach of the Quakers’ junior varsity basketball team to the title of assistant coach by '04-05.

                                                                                                                                                    Adler was a part of the coaching staff of a Penn squad that won an Ivy League title and made the NCAA Tournament.

                                                                                                                                                  Matt Bloom, La Salle’s video coordinator, was a manager for the Quakers for his four years at Penn. He worked under Dunphy and graduated with a degree in PPE.

So when the Explorers play Wichita State at the Staples Center on Thursday, they'll be carrying plenty of Penn connections to the Sweet 16.