Howard Porter, 58; Villanova star, played with NBA’s Bulls, Knicks

Howard Porter, one of the best players in Villanova University’s basketball history, died after he was found severely beaten in an alley more than a week ago. He was 58.

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.

Porter, who worked as a probation officer for Ramsey County in Minnesota, had been hospitalized since he was found in the alley without identification May 19. Police said it was unclear whether the beating was connected to his job. Lund said there have been no arrests and the investigation is continuing.

A native of Stuart, Fla., Porter was a three-time All-American during a brilliant career at Villanova. 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 Porter had been dealing with an agent before the season ended. Villanova’s 1971 runner-up finish also was vacated.

For his career from 1968 to 1971, 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.

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. But a career that showed so much promise in college never blossomed in the NBA, and Porter began using drugs.

By 1985, he was out of money, addicted to cocaine and sleeping on his mother’s couch in Florida, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. He entered rehab at Hazelden in Center City, Minn., in 1989, then moved to a halfway house in St. Paul and began turning his life around.

Porter became a probation officer for Ramsey County in 1995. He supervised adults who had been released from prison or sentenced to probation. He oversaw violent and nonviolent offenders, making sure that they followed the law, as well as the terms of their release.