Ask a casual Saint Francis Basketball fan to name of the school’s former players, and the name you will most likely hear will be Maurice Stokes, Norm Van Lier, or
Kevin Porter.
Mr. Porter followed Mr. Stokes and Mr. Van Lier to Loretto and embarked upon a collegiate career that rivaled those of his predecessors. He concluded his four-year stint at Saint Francis ranked second all-time to Mr. Stokes in scoring with 1,766 points. That total currently ranks fourth on the University’s all-time list.
Mr. Porter averaged 23-or-more points in each of his final three seasons, including a career-high 24.7 scoring average as a senior in 1971-72. Only Mr. Stokes and Sandy Williams have recorded higher single-seasons scoring averages.
Upon graduation from Saint Francis, Mr. Porter enjoyed a 10-year career in the National Basketball Association. He led the NBA in assists four times and became the first player in the league’s history to dish out 1,000 assists in a season, passing out 1,099 as a member of the Detroit Pistons in 1978-79. Mr. Porter finished his professional career with 5,314 assists and 7,654 points in 659 games.
Mr. Porter returned to Loretto in 1983 and coached at his alma mater for four seasons.
Saint Francis College is proud to honor Kevin Porter with induction into the Athletics Hall of Fame on this date, Saturday, December 6, 2003.
