Howard Porter

Howard Porter stopped poking at the half-finished broiled snapper on the plate in front of him, lowered his head and started fighting back tears. "Ten years . . . 10 years . . . of my life," he said. "Just . . . wasted . . . gone. "I've got nothing to show for it. Nothing. " It has been 10 years since Howard Porter's professional basketball career ended. It has been a difficult time, an unsettled time. But in 1971, you didn't need a crystal ball to see Howard Porter's future.

'The street," and the drugs that get sold there, claim so many, so many. Rarely does a denizen of "the street" wrestle with its devils and survive with his soul intact. That is why the death of Howard Porter last weekend in Minneapolis hurts so much. Mr. Porter went several rounds with the demons of drugs, and lived not only to tell the tale, but to help others surmount their own mistakes. Then, two weeks ago, he disappeared, only to be found days later, beaten to the edge of death.

THE MEMORIES are of cold nights and weak lights that were the curse of every news photographer in town. Matthew Brady couldn't have gotten a good shot of anybody in that old barn, but these guys somehow did. Whatever illumination there was shone only on the court itself. The seats, all hard benches, lay in darkness. A bad back was your destiny after too many nights on those benches. But it was exquisite agony. They were the greatest nights, all sweat and sound and Big Al up in his TV perch, and the newspaper guys typing like madmen behind the visiting bench as deadlines slipped away, and these epic, bruising, bewitching doubleheaders that ended with the big, heavy doors throwing open and 9,208 spent fighters being flung out into the frosty night.

A St. Paul, Minn., woman was arrested in connection with the beating death of former Villanova star Howard Porter. Tonya E. Washington, 33, was arrested Sunday night, according to St. Paul police spokesman Tom Walsh. "Beyond that, we're not commenting a great deal on the extent of the investigation or her exact involvement," Walsh said. "Charges are going to be forwarded to the county attorney. " Washington was taken into custody in St. Paul and held at the Ramsey County Jail pending homicide charges, according to an arrest record.

Two men were indicted yesterday by a grand jury in Hennepin County, Minn., on first-degree murder charges in the death of former Villanova basketball star Howard Porter. Fredquinzo Ronte King and Rashad Arthur Raleigh, both 29, were indicted on counts of premeditated first-degree murder and first-degree murder while committing or trying to commit aggravated robbery. The 58-year-old Porter disappeared the night of May 18 after leaving his St. Paul home. He was found in Minneapolis the next morning, badly injured, and was taken to the hospital.

Howard Porter, one of the all-time greats of Villanova basketball, died Saturday at 58 after being severely beaten and found in a Minneapolis alley last week, university officials and police said yesterday. Mr. Porter resided in St. Paul, Minn., where he worked as a probation officer. He reportedly suffered brain damage in an assault. Police said no one had been arrested and they had no suspects. They were awaiting a report from the medical examiner. "The entire Villanova family is saddened by the news of Howard's death," Wildcats coach Jay Wright said.

HERE WHERE HIS jersey hangs from the Villanova rafters and his name still resonates more than 30 years later, it is almost impossible to imagine. Howard Porter, arguably the greatest basketball player to wear a Villanova uniform, lay in a Minnesota hospital bed over the weekend, listed as a John Doe. His identification documents taken during a brutal assault, he went unidentified until television reports posted his picture as a missing person....

Former Villanova basketball star Howard Porter, an adult probation officer living and working in St. Paul, Minn., was reported to be clinging to life at a Twin Cities hospital after being assaulted over the weekend. St. Paul police spokesman Tom Walsh yesterday would not confirm media reports that Porter, 58, had been badly beaten. But Walsh said that Porter was a victim of aggravated assault, a felony, and that police continued to investigate. No arrests have been made, Walsh said, and investigators had yet to talk to Porter.

Kerry Kittles couldn't sit down before last night's game, not even to join his fellow starters in the wait for introductions. He stood in the receiving line with the reserves, his stringy arms jangling. As it turned out, Boston College should have been nervous, too. Kittles, making his last appearance at home this season, smacked around the hapless Eagles for 44 points, more than any Villanova player had scored in 25 years. The junior guard left the floor with 3 minutes, 57 seconds remaining, serenaded by raucous chants of "MVP" and "One more year.

His special genius was fashioned out of scavenged junk: The backboard was a cracked plank of plywood, the basket was a rusted bicycle tire rim, and the ball, thrown out with someone else's garbage, had been dribbled until the seams were worn smooth. And by the light of the Florida sun and of the silvery moon, night and day, day and night, the sweat running off him in little rivers, he honed his jump shot to silky perfection. He would grow to 6 feet 8, with cannonball shoulders, and he moved with a feline grace, cheetah-sleek.

In the heady aftermath of Villanova's recent rout of UCLA in the NCAA men's basketball tournament, a handful of balding, gray-haired men made their halting way through the Wachovia Center's dank corridors. Members of the Villanova team beaten by John Wooden's UCLA in the 1971 national title game, they were about to experience the final act in their collective redemption, a locker-room meeting with their contemporary counterparts. Curiously, the 2009 Wildcats' run to this weekend's Final Four also has concluded the '71 Wildcats' equally improbable journey from near-champions to outcasts and, finally, with a huge assist from the current coach, Jay Wright, to beloved ex-heroes.

A third defendant pleaded guilty in the beating death of former Villanova basketball star Howard Porter a day before his trial was to start. Fredquinzo King pleaded guilty yesterday in Minneapolis to one count of second-degree murder and one count of kidnapping, and awaits sentencing Oct. 13. Porter led Villanova to the 1971 NCAA championship game. He played seven pro seasons, but his career was cut short by injuries and cocaine addiction. He came to Minnesota for treatment and was working as a probation officer when he was killed in 2007.

Two men were indicted by a Hennepin County Grand Jury yesterday on first-degree murder charges in the death of Villanova basketball legend Howard Porter. Fredquinzo Ronte "Snake Eyes" King and Rashad Arthur Raleigh, both 29, each were indicted on counts of premeditated first-degree murder and first-degree murder while committing or trying to commit aggravated robbery. Porter, 58, disappeared the night of May 18 after leaving his St. Paul home. He was found in Minneapolis the next morning, badly injured, and was taken to the hospital as a John Doe. Authorities realized later that the assault victim was Porter.

Two men were indicted yesterday by a grand jury in Hennepin County, Minn., on first-degree murder charges in the death of former Villanova basketball star Howard Porter. Fredquinzo Ronte King and Rashad Arthur Raleigh, both 29, were indicted on counts of premeditated first-degree murder and first-degree murder while committing or trying to commit aggravated robbery. The 58-year-old Porter disappeared the night of May 18 after leaving his St. Paul home. He was found in Minneapolis the next morning, badly injured, and was taken to the hospital.

IWOULD like to take this opportunity to thank Villanova University and the city of Philadelphia's many communities for their outpouring of support, care, generosity and compassion that was shown to me on the passing of my beloved husband, Howard Porter. The many comforting expressions of sympathy were a testament to what Howard had always said about the community he so passionately and proudly cared about - that it was the epitome of graciousness and kindness. Amid the sadness of his passing, the return to Villanova and the celebration of his life brought me a sense of strength, comfort and peace.

Before St. Thomas of Villanova Church filled last night with those who came to mourn Howard Porter's death and celebrate his life, teammates of perhaps the greatest player to pull on a Villanova basketball jersey had a private visitation. The pained expressions on the faces of these graying men approaching age 60 made it clear to Villanova coach Jay Wright how much they cherished Porter's return to their embrace during the last decade. "The guys who played with him are really crushed," Wright said before representing the 1971 team with words of remembrance at last night's service.

A St. Paul, Minn., woman was arrested in connection with the beating death of former Villanova star Howard Porter. Tonya E. Washington, 33, was arrested Sunday night, according to St. Paul police spokesman Tom Walsh. "Beyond that, we're not commenting a great deal on the extent of the investigation or her exact involvement," Walsh said. "Charges are going to be forwarded to the county attorney. " Washington was taken into custody in St. Paul and held at the Ramsey County Jail pending homicide charges, according to an arrest record.

His special genius was fashioned out of scavenged junk: The backboard was a cracked plank of plywood, the basket was a rusted bicycle tire rim, and the ball, thrown out with someone else's garbage, had been dribbled until the seams were worn smooth. And by the light of the Florida sun and of the silvery moon, night and day, day and night, the sweat running off him in little rivers, he honed his jump shot to silky perfection. He would grow to 6 feet 8, with cannonball shoulders, and he moved with a feline grace, cheetah-sleek.

Howard Porter was remembered yesterday as a leader on the basketball court and in the community as more than 500 friends, relatives and former teammates gathered in St. Paul, Minn., to memorialize the former Villanova basketball star who was beaten to death. Porter, 58, died May 26, a week after he was found severely beaten in a Minneapolis alley. His death remains under investigation. No arrests have been made, and $25,000 in rewards have been offered for information leading to an arrest.

'The street," and the drugs that get sold there, claim so many, so many. Rarely does a denizen of "the street" wrestle with its devils and survive with his soul intact. That is why the death of Howard Porter last weekend in Minneapolis hurts so much. Mr. Porter went several rounds with the demons of drugs, and lived not only to tell the tale, but to help others surmount their own mistakes. Then, two weeks ago, he disappeared, only to be found days later, beaten to the edge of death.