LORETTO, Pa. Saint Francis men's basketball will hold Kevin Porter Night on Thursday, February 6, against Le Moyne. Game time is 7 p.m.

"Kevin is the greatest living Saint Francis basketball player," said head coach Rob Krimmel. "To welcome back many of his teammates is going to be a special night for us. Any opportunity to bring alumni back, especially from the Golden Era, allows the current players to experience the passion, pride, and love they have for Saint Francis." 

Porter played for the Red Flash from 1968-72, which marked the end of the Golden Era of Red Flash basketball. He finished his career with 1,766 points and became the 16th player in program history to reach the century mark. He left Saint Francis second to only Maurice Stokes and currently sits fifth on the all-time chart. Porter averaged 23.0 or more points in his final three seasons, including a career-high 24.7 scoring average as a senior in 1971-72. Only Stokes and Sandy Williams have recorded higher single-season scoring averages. 

Upon graduation from Saint Francis, Porter enjoyed an 11-year career in the NBA. 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. Porter finished his professional career with 5,314 assists and 7,654 points in 659 games. 

Porter's 11-year career in the NBA is the longest tenure by a former Saint Francis player. Norm Van Lier played 10 seasons, Stokes played three seasons before his career was tragically cut short, and Mike Iuzzolino played two seasons in the NBA.

Porter returned to Saint Francis to serve as the men's basketball head coach from 1983-87 to become the second of three former Red Flash basketball players to serve as head coach (Dave Magarity and Rob Krimmel are the only two to accomplish this feat). 

Porter was inducted into the Saint Francis Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.

The hope was that Porter could travel back to Saint Francis to celebrate his night in Loretto, but doctors have advised him to stay home in Chicago. Many of his teammates from the 1971-72 Saint Francis team plan to celebrate Porter's legacy at Saint Francis. Along with Porter, the team had Joe Hazinsky, who averaged 16.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, and Clarence Hopson, who averaged 16.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Allen Spencer just missed double figures in points that season, averaging 9.6 points per game while leading the team with 8.2 rebounds per game. Porter, Hazinsky, Spencer, Sam Slone, and Art Hunter were the seniors on that team. Gary Copeland was the lone junior, while Hopson, Bill Stevens, Al Walker, and Terry Brennan were sophomores in Dick Conover's first season as a head coach for the Frankies. 

The 1971-72 team finished 12-13 on the year but jumped out to a hot start by winning nine of the first 14 games. Saint Francis won four straight games from January 15 to January 24, with the first three contests coming on the road, including a 79-77 win against Saint Joseph's at the Palestra on January 15. The Red Flash hosted No. 10 Marshall that season on February 21, 1972. It was the seventh time the team played a ranked opponent at home in program history. The Frankies would host three more ranked opponents from 1986-90, but No. 13 Pittsburgh on December 1, 1990, would be the last time a ranked opponent came to DeGol Arena.

Over the last two years, Saint Francis has recognized the men's basketball's three most significant players in program history. Last season, on February 15, 2024, against Wagner, Saint Francis celebrated Norm Van Lier Night and dedicated the Golden Era plagues at the entrance to DeGol Arena. While it was not a Maurice Stokes Night, Ty Chapman and John Coy, the authors of a Stokes children's book, Stokes: The Brief Career of the NBA's First Black Superstar, were on campus last week, and Stokes was part of the University Martin Luther King Legacy Week.

The game against Le Moyne will also be Altoona Curve Season Ticket Appreciation Night.