WATERLOO -- Lonnie Porter was holding court on a court again, a court he once dominated against many opponents.
Porter, who turned 83 Friday, doesn’t need an introduction when he returns to what he considers his hometown of Waterloo.
Lonnie Porter, sitting, poses for a photo with current Waterloo East head boys' basketball coach Mike Sailor Thursday at Waterloo East.
Before he became a legendary figure at Regis University in Denver, where he served as head men’s basketball coach for 38 years, coaching more than 1,000 games, Porter starred on two state tournament teams for Waterloo East in 1960 and 1961, including the 1960 state runner-up squad that featured John Kincaid, Bill Perkins, Larry Thompson and Emmit Hoosman.
Porter’s short-term memory isn’t what it used to be, he admits, and according to his goddaughter Lisa Kincaid, that was the reason the Iowa High School Basketball Hall of Fame inductee decided to pay a visit to Waterloo this week, his adopted hometown although he lived just two years in the city.
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On Thursday, at the invitation of Waterloo East Director of Athletics Tim Moses, Porter sat at center court of Wier-McGraw Court with many East High legends, including Bob Tyson, Bill Perkins, and John Dunn, to name a few, and all topics were on the table.
Waterloo native Lonnie Porter, right, and Waterloo East Director of Athletics Tim Moses share a laugh during a meet and greet at East with Porter, a Waterloo East Hall of Famer, and many other Trojan greats.
“I recognized the majority of you, your faces, but I don’t remember all your names,” Porter told the group as they all sat down. “I will be honest with you, my adopted daughter, Lisa Kincaid, John’s daughter, she will confirm, that there are some things my memory won’t give me anymore, OK?’”
But when it came to the impact Waterloo had on his life, Porter’s memory is as sharp as it has ever been.
He recounted stories from his birth in Goodman, Mississippi, to his move to Indianapolis, and his experiences living in the Lockefield Gardens public housing complex, then asking his Aunt B to rescue him and bring him back to her home.
“That day changed my life forever,” Porter said. “I was living in Indianapolis, and my aunt and uncle, Dave Bonds Jr., came over for Labor Day. I pulled my Aunt B aside and said, ‘Please take me back to where you live.’ I didn’t even know the name of it. She said it is Waterloo, Iowa, and I said, ‘Take me back to Waterloo because I don’t know if I can go in the right direction if I stay here.’
“910 Beech Street. I fell in love with it all. Waterloo, the city, the town and the Waterloo East High School. It changed my entire life.”
Waterloo native Lonnie Porter, right, and Waterloo East Director of Athletics Tim Moses share a laugh during a meet and greet at East with Porter, a Waterloo East Hall of Famer, and many other Trojan greats.
Porter also credited the influence of legendary Waterloo East coach Murray Weir with shaping his life trajectory.
From earning NAIA All-American honors at Adams State in Alamosa, Colorado, to coaching Denver intercity high school Manual High to the 1972 3A state title to an assistant coaching gig at Nebraska for several seasons, Porter says Wier and his two years in Waterloo mean the world to him.
He left Nebraska for Regis in 1977 and remained its head coach until his retirement in 2015.
“It wasn’t my intention to stay at Regis this long,” Porter told the Denver Post in a 2014 article. “I was going to be the big-time Division I college coach. But the more I stayed, the more I didn’t want to leave.”
The accomplishment he most cherishes, however, isn’t any of the more than 500 basketball games he won, or the fact that he was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 2001 or the Iowa Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
It’s the fact that nearly 95% of the players he coached who finished their eligibility graduated, including 1987 Waterloo West graduate Darron Greer, who starred for Porter for two seasons.
That legacy, and the one he’s built at the Porter-Billups Leadership Academy located at Regis, is far more important to Porter.
Waterloo East Hall of Famer Lonnie Porter talks with East High Alumni during a Meet and Greet at the High School with Porter Thursday.
In 1996, Porter founded the PBLA, and each summer more than 200 at-risk students in fourth through 12th grade receive training in leadership development, teamwork, conflict resolution, communication skills and technology. Subsequently, the academy, which is free to all participants, provides full scholarships to Regis University for those who successfully complete the long-term program.
“Giving back to the community … it's just a small gesture for a child that could change their entire life,” Porter says. “So, being very conscious, being intentional, about the conversations and the things that you share … it’s a beautiful thing we try to accomplish at PBLA that has had a major, major impact on many kids' lives. That is something to be proud of.”
Porter’s eyes sparkled when asked about two of his favorite stories, Oscar Robertson and carrying the Olympic Torch leading up to the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games.
Ruling the court with Big O
There were two things that the youths at Lockefield Gardens could participate in that didn’t involve mischief – baseball and basketball. Porter gravitated toward basketball.
One day, when he was 11 or 12, he and his team called next at the local playground. At that moment, Oscar Robertson, the future 12-time NBA All-Star, who had yet to win Indiana’s 1956 Mr. Basketball Award, walked onto the playground.
Porter jumped at the chance to play with the Big O, who also grew up at Lockefield Gardens.
“I’m not going to exaggerate it, it was one time he was on my team,” Porter smiles. “It was on the playground, and he came walking through, and I said, ‘Oscar, I got next, will you go with me? Will you be on my team? He said, ‘Okay, little man, I will play,' and we held the court the rest of the day. I don’t think I took a shot. All I was doing was hustling and passing the ball to Oscar. It was a feeling I will never forget as long as I live.
“I had no idea what he would become because of who he already was … our paths have crossed a few times since that day, and he is such a great human being.”
Torch bearer
Arguably one of the most influential figures at Regis University, Porter also made an impact outside of the Regis community, which led him to being selected as the final torchbearer for Denver leading up to the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.
Porter carried the Olympic flame into Denver’s City and County Building plaza and lit the ceremonial cauldron in front of thousands of spectators.
“It was an honor,” Porter said. “As someone who has carried that torch and the emotions you go through carrying it, it will make you cry no matter how tough you think you are.”
Honoring Lonnie
Friends and family have set up a meet and greet at the Courtyard by Marriott located at 250 Westfield Avenue in Waterloo tonight (Friday, July 31) to celebrate Porter’s birthday and honor his connection to Waterloo.
