Craig Porter leaves legacy, on and off the court, worth celebrating for Shocker basketball
Craig Porter had just scored a career-high in points and delivered another all-around masterpiece to lead the Wichita State men’s basketball team to a victory in his final home game at Koch Arena, but that’s not the first thing he’ll remember about his senior day.
It will be the chants.
Standing in the tunnel, Porter grinned from ear to ear when he heard his teammates begin to chant “C-P-3” over and over again. Soon, WSU fans all joined in.
Where Porter comes from — Spruce Street in an impoverished neighborhood in Terre Haute, Indiana — there’s not many boys who grow up to make it out of the neighborhood, let alone have an entire building chanting their name.
With his mother on his left arm, his longtime girlfriend on his right arm and his father, brothers and other family members behind him, Porter beamed with pride.
His journey is long from finished, but Sunday afternoon will long be remembered as the realization that he had not only made it out, but he had made something of himself that others adored.
“I can’t tell you how many people back home are so very, very proud of him,” said Rachel Higginbotham, his mother. “There’s a lot of people where we’re from that have followed all of Craig’s games and look up to him. His story tells them that anything is possible.”
Porter signed with Wichita State to play basketball for Gregg Marshall, endured a coaching change weeks before the start of the season, played through a pandemic season, persevered to be on the first Shocker team to win an American Athletic Conference championship and played in the NCAA Tournament. And that was just his first year on campus.
He stuck his toes in the transfer portal twice but ultimately decided to return to WSU both times, even when he watched almost all of his teammates from last season leave. His three-year career is intertwined with coach Isaac Brown, who took over as interim coach and then earned the full-time position all with Porter on the roster.
This season hasn’t gone the way Porter hoped, but he’s still managed to win over the hearts of WSU fans with his signature volleyball-spike blocks, step-back jumpers and on-point passes in transition. Perhaps even more important than his historic triple-double this season, he was the lone player who stayed every year since the championship season in 2021.
“I want fans to remember what I do on and off the court,” Porter said. “It’s not necessarily the prettiest. I might not have the best scoring ability, but I want them to know this place is like home to me.”
On a basketball court, Porter seems like he has everything coming his way — fame, success, money.
But few get to see the real Porter when he’s not wearing the No. 3 jersey for the Shockers. The fame and adulation hasn’t changed him: he’s still the kid who was raised on Spruce Street and didn’t always know where his next meal would come from.
That’s why when Porter walks into a Walmart or a QuikTrip and sees a person in need outside, he almost always remembers to bring them something to drink and eat. That doesn’t earn him the cheers of a blocked shot, but it’s much more important to him.
“I know what it’s like to be in that position and there were people who helped me and my family,” Porter said. “You don’t have to have all of the resources. Just little stuff, you can still make some type of change.”
Sometimes Porter and his mother, Higginbotham, who moved from Terre Haute to Wichita, will scrounge up a few extra dollars to go buy a 24-pack of water bottles and hand them out to people without housing in downtown Wichita.
They’ve also talked about Porter potentially using his NIL ability to raise funds to donate to people in need in Wichita.
“I think it’s important to him because we struggled to make sure we had this and that,” Higginbotham said. “It wasn’t always easy, but I’ve always taught my kids that to give back when you can. If you have five dollars in your pocket, give four. Try to keep change in your car if someone needs it. That doesn’t hurt anybody. You’re always going to see someone who has it worse than you, so why not help if you can?”
When Porter has nothing to give, he believes in the power of striking up a simple conversation with somebody. The person across from him probably never knows they’re talking to a star college basketball player.
They just enjoy talking to someone. Sometimes that’s the most valuable thing he can give.
“You never know who you can help by just having a conversation on the corner,” Porter said. “Maybe someone is having a bad day and you could save their life by just talking to them. You never know what somebody else is going through. Everybody has a story.”
Back when he played for Vincennes University, Porter volunteered his time to speak to at-risk children in Terre Haute and encourage them to stay on the right path.
At Wichita State, Porter’s easygoing personality and positive outlook on life has made him a beloved figure in the program. Not just by his teammates, both current and past, but by the coaches, the training staff, the academic advisors and the managers.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s a teammate, a walk-on, a coach or a manager, Craig treated everyone the same way,” said WSU graduate manager Britton Stutts. “He’ll sit down and have a conversation about anything with anyone. He’s one of the funniest dudes I know and he’s just a joy to be around.”
“Craig is like a son to me,” WSU head coach Isaac Brown said. “He’s a joy to coach and the guys love playing with him. He knows exactly what I want. I’ve got a lot of confidence in him, and if it’s late in the clock, I don’t care if he’s 0 for 100, I want the ball in his hands. He always makes the right decision.”
That’s the Craig that his parents raised in Terre Haute, and they were glad to see he is appreciated for it in Wichita.
“He was always the nicest, most sweet little kid,” Higginbotham said. “I’ve never heard him argue with anybody. Everyone I meet in Wichita always comes up and says, ‘He’s so nice, so sweet, so respectful.’”
“This is his dream and he’s worked hard for it, so I’m so proud of him,” said Craig Porter Sr., who made the drive to Wichita from Terre Haute for the game on Sunday. “I really couldn’t be any more proud of him than I am. It means a lot to me as a parent to know that he’s a respectful young man and evidently the people love him because that’s all I’ve been hearing today. He gets that from his mother.”
While he may be sweet off the court, Porter has been anything other than accommodating to opponents on defense. On top of his 13.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists, Porter is averaging 1.5 steals and 1.6 blocks. His 5.3 block rate (percentage of shots a player blocks when they are on the court) is by far the highest in the country for his height (6 foot 2).
It’s been quite the transformation for a player who was injured upon arriving at WSU and was limited his entire first season as a Shocker. Porter laughs when remembering how he couldn’t even dunk at points during his first year. Now he skies for rebounds, floats through the air for dunks and flies out of nowhere to swat shots on defense.
Those hops are a big reason why he believes he should follow Dexter Dennis as the next Shocker to win the AAC Defensive Player of the Year award.
“I don’t want to use my height as a (talking point), but honestly nobody else in the country is doing the things I’m doing on the defensive end at my height,” Porter said. “If I don’t win it, I’m not going to be mad. I’m trying to go to Dallas and get those four wins in a row. That’s what’s on my mind.”
Before WSU takes on Tulsa in the opening round of the AAC tournament in Fort Worth at 6 p.m. Thursday, Porter’s teammates also went to bat for his Defensive Player of the Year candidacy.
“I ain’t never played with a guard in my life that can block that many shots,” Rojas said of Porter, who has the most all-time blocks in WSU history for a guard despite only playing in 71 career games. “It’s ridiculous how many shots he blocks for a 6-2 guard.”
“There are some blocks I see him go for and I’m like, ‘How does he get that?’” WSU senior Gus Okafor said. “He blocks big dudes’ shots, he blocks guards’ shots. He’s really sneaky.”
Individual accolades never interested Porter, who was ingrained to play a team-first style of basketball in Terre Haute, which never left him, much like everything else about the city.
More than the points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks he’s racked up this season, Porter will remember the road trips with teammates, the flights, the bus rides, the laughs, the tears, the memories of spending nearly 10 straight months together.
He hopes there’s more special memories to be made in Fort Worth, but if not, his experience as a Shocker was everything he hoped it would be.
“It’s been fun, even when I wasn’t able to do what I wanted to do on the court,” Porter said. “And off the court, I’ve had the most fun in my whole life with my teammates. I just couldn’t be more happy to be where I am right now.”
This story was originally published March 7, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
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