Street: Most underrated thing about Penn? Overrated? Justin Reilly: Underrated: performing arts. Overrated: I’m going to go out on a limb and say NSO.
Street: Perks of being a Penn basketball player? JR: You get into Smoke's even as a freshman. You get to travel a lot and go to different places. Last year we were in Miami for New Year's, so we spent it on South Beach. Crazy.
Street: Favorite on-campus place to write or practice your poetry? JR: I’ve written some by the Biopond out in the middle of nowhere. It’s poetic to be out by the pond, like Walden stuff.
Street: What are you up to right now? JR: I did some producing and ghostwriting for hip hop record labels in Atlanta. I’ve signed two contracts with record labels in New York, and I'm working on my own album. It’s not hip hop, but a kind of spoken word poetry.
Street: Which do you think would be more useful in a fight: your word skills or ball skills? JR: In my last fight? Not my word skills. Most of the time, probably my words. But then for some reason they might get me in trouble, and I might have to get physical.
Street: What don’t people know about you? JR: I like jazz clubs. I don’t play video games. I really like to read when I have time. I’m a crazy movie buff and have probably seen every movie out there.
Street: Favorite places? JR: Once in a while the Rotunda has some cool stuff.
Street: Any superstitions or pre-game rituals? JR: Basketball-wise, definitely. Right sock has to go on first, tie my right shoe one time, tie my left shoe, untie my right shoe, tie it, then go back to my left shoe. I can't have any creases in my socks. My warm-up routine is set: start with my right hand, then my left hand. A lot of quirks like that.
Street: Any guilty pleasures? JR: I procrastinate. I’ll stay up three days straight. All of my poems seem to come to me between midnight and 3 a.m., so usually I’m up late and stay up even though we have early practice in the morning.
Street: You’ve met Barack Obama, Jay-Z, John Legend and Talib Kweli. Who's the coolest? JR: I’m going to have to say my great grandfather — he fought in WWII and Korea and has crazy stories about life. He saw the first car and is now 95.
Street: If you could have a superpower for a day, what would it be? JR: Definitely reading minds. Definitely.
Street: You just arrived at your 10-year college reunion. What would people be most surprised to hear about you? JR: They'd probably be surprised that I’m married with a few kids. Surprised that I’m a family man.
Street: If you could condense your time at Penn into a line or beat — could you? JR: “I have a Coretta Scott King complex... still married to a dream.”
