Porter fondly remembered back home at Villanova

FOR 10 YEARS, Theresa Neal has come to Philadelphia with her husband, Howard Porter.

It was through the frequent visits to this city where Porter built his basketball legacy and to Villanova, where he established his deepest connections, that Neal, a basketball novice from Minnesota, learned who her husband really was. She saw him puff out his chest just a little bit when he got off the plane here, saw fans in the airport come up and ask him for an autograph or to pose for a photograph, immediately recognizing their hero despite the 36-year lag time since his basketball glory days.

Yesterday, Neal walked through Philadelphia International Airport alone. She came to escort her husband's body to last night's funeral services at Villanova. Porter died May 26 from injuries suffered in a beating. He was found in an alley in north Minneapolis, near his adopted hometown of St. Paul. Police still are trying to piece together the puzzling case. Porter was 58.

"It was really bittersweet for me this time because it was the first time in 10 years I came alone," Neal said during the service at the St. Thomas of Villanova Chapel. "But there was also a sense of happiness and joy because I knew what this place meant to Howard. I thank you all for welcoming him back home."

Remembered by teammates as a gentle giant whose talent simply awed and inspired them, Porter was honored with a chapel full of basketball history. His coach, Jack Kraft, led the procession up the aisle of St. Thomas of Villanova and his teammates escorted his casket back out. Temple coach Fran Dunphy and Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli paid their respects, as did George Raveling, the former Villanova assistant and ace recruiter who brought Porter to Philadelphia from his native Florida.

But it was Neal whose quiet eloquence and simple dignity overwhelmed the services. She told how she never knew of Porter's basketball talents until an uncle heard his name and started telling tales of the great Howard Porter of Villanova. Neal's new husband quietly looked at her uncle and said, "That's me."

"I looked at him and said, 'Who are you?' " Neal said.

More than just tell tales, Neal spoke about what Villanova meant to her husband. She recalled Porter's first visit after his long, self-induced estrangement in 1997, when the university retired his jersey and how her "gentle giant" was overcome to be reunited with his alma mater and then spoke directly to the men in the front of the church - Fran O'Hanlon, Tom Ingelsby, Joe McDowell, Mike Daly, Chris Ford, Clarence Smith and Ed Hastings.

"The 1971 basketball team, you were his brothers," Neal said. "He loved each and every one of you and even though we were separated by miles, our hearts were always connected."

It was a sentiment Porter's teammates and friends echoed.

Overcome with emotion, they filed past the casket of their teammate and smiled because Porter was wearing his trademark derby but shook their head that the man who had once seemed invincible now was gone.

"It's pretty heartbreaking," Hastings said. "He was just an unbelievable talent and to see him like that, it's hard. He was our hero."

Villanova coach Jay Wright, his voice cracking, admitted he was having a tough time reconciling the 10-year-old in him who idolized Porter and the grown man who had gotten to know him.

"If someone told me then I would be eulogizing Howard Porter, it would be like saying you're eulogizing Michael Jordan," Wright said. "When I was growing up, I mean, I was 10. It was simple back then."

Woven in with the sadness, of course there were stories. Porter is a part of the elaborate fabric that is Big 5 basketball. Tons of people said they watched the La Salle-Villanova game on Comcast SportsNet on Monday night and tons more had tales to tell about the player and the man.

Ingelsby said the first time he saw Porter play was in a rec- league game.

"I remember Artis Gilmore was there, and he's 7-foot but How-ard's jumping center," Ingelsby recalled. "I'm thinking, 'How good is this guy?' I think he ended up with like 40 points and 29 rebounds."

Smith, one of two teammates to share memories of Porter during the service, recalled how Porter would sort of lean back toward the fans in the bleachers when he shot and knowing full well it was going in, would begin to strut down the court.

"And the announcer would yell, 'How-ard Por-ter,' while the fans shouted, 'Geez-er, Geez-er,' " Smith said.

Kraft, who recalled the miracle of an open Saturday in February that allowed him to travel to Sarasota, Fla., and check out the kid Raveling had been going on about, shared a story straight out of the annals of the Holy War history. In December 1970, Villanova played in a tournament at Kansas. Saint Joseph's was in the same tourney, playing in the first game of the doubleheader. While the Hawks were playing, the Wildcats team watched right in the midst of the St. Joe's cheering section. One fan pounded a drum over and over again.

Finally, one aggravated Kansas fan walked over and told the fan to "put that drum . . . away," Kraft said, "and Howard turns to the fella and says, 'You want to beat that drum, you beat that drum. We'll be behind you all the way.' That's Howard."

The hardest part right now is coming to grips with how Porter died.

Before going to the services in Minnesota on Saturday, Daly, McDowell and John Fox went to the alley in north Minneapolis where Porter was found, dumped there after being beaten.

Before he went, Daly said he didn't know what to expect, didn't know if it was a good idea. Turns out, it was.

"It helped because it was such a beautiful morning," Daly said. "It was peaceful, calm. It was a quaint little neighborhood, nothing like I expected. We stayed 20 minutes."

This weekend, Daly will fly to Florida for the final services to honor Porter and be there when Porter is finally laid to rest.

Asked why he continues on, Daly said simply, "He deserves it. Howard deserves it." *