Porter died Saturday night, Minneapolis Police Lt. Kim Lund said Sunday. Police were awaiting a report from the medical examiner to determine the cause of death.
He is one of two Booker players to have his number retired. He led the Tornadoes to the state title in 1967. "Howard provided so many Villanovans with thrills on the basketball court playing for coach (Jack) Kraft," Villanova coach Jay Wright said in a statement released by the school.
"Since his playing days ended, he has been an outstanding role model for our current players and coaching staff." Porter, who worked as a probation officer for Ramsey County, had been hospitalized since he was found in the alley without identification May 19. Authorities didn't know at the time that the man brought to the hospital as an unknown assault victim was Porter.
Police said it was unclear whether the beating was connected to his job. Lund said there have been no arrests. For his career from 1968-71, he averaged 22.
8 points and 14.8 rebounds. In 1997, Villanova retired Porter's No.
54 jersey and he still holds the school's career record for rebounds with 1,317. He led the Wildcats to the 1971 NCAA championship game, where they lost to UCLA 68-62. He was voted the tournament's outstanding player, an honor later vacated because he had been dealing with an agent before the season ended.
Villanova's runner-up finish also was vacated. Porter was drafted by Chicago in 1971 and spent three seasons with the Bulls before playing with the New York Knicks and the Detroit Pistons. Then Porter began using drugs.
"I took a ride with the devil," Porter told the Star Tribune in a 2001 interview. "And the devil picked me up and rolled me for a while." By 1985, he was out of money, addicted to cocaine and sleeping on the couch at his mother's house in Florida, the newspaper reported.
He went to rehab at Hazelden in Center City, Minn., in 1989, then moved to a halfway house. Porter became a probation officer for Ramsey County in 1995, where he supervised adults who had been released from prison or sentenced to probation.
He oversaw violent and nonviolent offenders, making sure they followed the terms of their release. When the Wildcats came to Minneapolis during the NCAA tournament two years ago, Porter spoke to the team and befriended star guard Randy Foye, who became a lottery pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves before this season. "The guy was a legend," Foye said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.
"I met him two or three times at Villanova, but our relationship really grew when I came to Minneapolis. He was just always there, always offering to help me out with anything I needed." Last modified: May 28.
2007 4:14AM
MINNEAPOLIS -- Howard Porter, a former Booker High star and one of the best Villanova basketball players in history, died after he was found severely beaten more than a week ago. He was 58. For free access to this article, you must be a member of HeraldTribune.
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