Former Penn guard Zack Rosen signs pro contract with Israel's Hapoel Holon

Zack Rosen did not need a press conference or even an e-mail release to announce his signing of the first professional basketball contract in his life.

The former Penn guard did the honors himself, tweeting a picture of his signature on a deal with Israeli Super League club Hapoel Holon.

Based in a southern suburb of Tel Aviv, the club's only league title came in 2008. They have aspirations to grow, though, as evidenced by their plans to open a new arena in two years.

(If you don't know Hebrew, run that page through Google Translate and it will make sense.)

Rosen has made no secret of the fact that if he did not sign a contract in the NBA, he would go to Israel to play. He's Jewish, and the opportunity to pursue a career in Israel has a lot of meaining for him.

The Colonia, N.J., native will be joined by Stanford product Lawrence Hill, who spent part of the 2011-12 NBA season on the Sacramento Kings' roster. Past American players on Hapoel's squad include Fordham product Bryant Dunston and Louisiana State product Tasmin Mitchell.

In addition to Rosen's news, a few other Penn basketball-related happened Thursday. Michael Jordan signed on as an assistant to former classmate Matt Langel at Colgate, and Koko Archibong was on the receiving end of the 156-73 demolition that the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team gave to Nigeria.

Archibong played 14 minutes in the game and was 0-for-2 from the field, with both shots coming from two-point range. He did manage to record one assist and two offensive rebounds.

And if you really want to get esoteric - well, okay, it's August and there isn't much else to talk about - consider the following...

If Archibong's 2002-03 Penn squad had managed to beat Oklahoma State in the first round of that year's NCAA Tournament, the Olympic contest would have been the second all-time meeting between Archibong and Carmelo Anthony.

Syracuse beat Manhattan in the first game of the then-FleetCenter doubleheader on that fateful Friday afternoon in Boston. Penn and Oklahoma State played the second.

Yes, I was there; yes, it feels like it was a very long time ago, whether or not it actually was.