Now it’s official.

Allan Houston signed up this afternoon, and will likely be on the practice floor on Friday. Here’s a quote from the release sent out by the Knicks:

“After much thought and prayer, I have decided to return to the NBA as a member of the New York Knicks. I have worked extremely hard in the last year and a half to accomplish my dream of playing in the NBA again,” Houston said. “After my wife and I were blessed with the birth of our fourth child last week, I realized that New York is where I’m supposed to be, and the Knick uniform is the one I want to wear. I have seen the Garden in some of its best moments, and I truly believe that this team is on the very of experiencing that again. This team is hungry and energetic. I hope to contribute in the weeks and months ahead.

“Thank you to all of the Knicks fans and those that have supported me. I will always be a Knick, and I am committed to helping this team compete for a championship.”

I spoke this afternoon with Bill Strickland, who’s been representing Houston from the beginning, and he very politely shot me down when I asked whether the former All-Star felt he owed something to the Knicks.

A lot of loyal fans who never completely understood the salary cap mess believe Houston’s contract was to blame for many of the problems in the post-Ewing years. They became even more frustrated when he couldn’t provide a concrete timetable for a return when the knees began to fail.

Behind the scenes, Houston did a ridiculous amount of work in hopes of getting back on the court before stepping up to the podium on Oct. 17, 2005 to reluctantly announce his retirement.

“I don’t embrace that notion because I know what he went through trying to get back to the floor,” Strickland said. “He spent two years working to get healthy when he could have just walked away and collect his money.”

It sounds like Houston will speak either tomorrow before the Maccabi Tel Aviv game or Friday after practice.