Longtime Associated Press writer and Philly basketball legend Jack Scheuer died today at the age of 87.

Our younger readers might not be familiar with Scheuer, who spent 50 years writing for the AP and was an assistant coach at Archbishop Wood, Father Judge, and Drexel University for a short time. He was all over the Philadelphia basketball scene for decades and a regular figure at the Palestra going back to the late sixties, before most of us were born.

Scheuer was a well-respected local figure, and that’s supported by the myriad tributes coming in from sports media members who had the pleasure of working alongside him over the years. Among them are AP writers Rob Maaddi and Dan Gelston:

One of the cool little quirks about Scheuer is that he ran that pickup game at the Palestra for YEARS. I think it was held at noon on Wednesdays, and people told stories about how he’d put up these two-handed set shots, which would often find the back of the net. He spent so much time at the Palestra that he was at one point given a key to the place and was probably its most recognizable figure.

RIP Jack. Never got to meet him but heard great things about him.