Background and career
Terry Porter (born April 8, 1963) is an American former college basketball coach and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was most recently the head men's basketball coach at the University of Portland. A native of Wisconsin, he played college basketball at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point before being drafted 24th by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1985 NBA draft. In Portland, he played ten seasons with two All-Star Game appearances. Porter spent 17 years in the NBA as a player. Following his retirement as a player in 2002, he began coaching in the league. Porter has twice been a head coach, first with his hometown Milwaukee Bucks and then with the Phoenix Suns.
Porter was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on April 8, 1963. Porter played prep basketball, as a forward, at Milwaukee's South Division High School.
Porter attended college at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point (the Pointers), at the time a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) school. He played under head coach Dick Bennett, and with Brad Soderberg (who later became the head coach at Saint Louis University). In four seasons at Stevens Point, Porter averaged 13.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, and shot 58.9 percent from the floor. As a junior, he averaged 18.8 points while shooting over 65 percent from the floor. Twice with the Pointers, as both a junior and a senior, he was named an NAIA First-Team All-American. As a junior, he was named the NAIA "Player of the Year", and in the 1984 NAIA tournament, he was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player even though the Pointers lost the national championship to Fort Hays State. After the 1984 tournament, Porter was the only NAIA player to be invited to the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team trials—the team included Patrick Ewing, Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, Wayman Tisdale, Chris Mullin, and Steve Alford—72 players were invited to the trials, led by head coach Bob Knight. At the trials he said: "I'm sure a lot of guys might have been surprised to see me here, I didn't even expect to get invited. This competition is a whole notch up from what I'm used to. I feel kind of in awe". Porter made it to the final 20 (even though he had the chicken pox), but on a team that was heavy on guards (Jordan, Alford, Vern Fleming, Alvin Robertson, and Leon Wood), Porter was cut on May 13, 1984, along with Charles Barkley and John Stockton. After the Olympic trials, NBA scouts began to notice Porter for his "tight defensive play, nonstop hustle and deft shooting touch". He commented: "I wasn't much good in high school, so the big schools didn't come after me. But I guess I've improved a lot at Point". After three seasons at shooting guard, he moved to the point guard position. Following his senior season, where he averaged 19.7 points and 4.3 assists per-game, Porter was the only Division III player named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches-Valvoline All-America Game. He was also the only NAIA player named to the Aloha Basketball All-Star Classic, where he was named to the all-tournament team (along with Detlef Schrempf, Harold Keeling, Xavier McDaniel, and Joe Dumars), and as "top defensive player" and co-MVP. Porter returned to Wisconsin–Stevens Point to finish his degree in communications, obtained in 1993, with an emphasis in television and radio. He was awarded a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999.
Going into the 1985 NBA draft, the Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, Golden State Warriors, and San Antonio Spurs, all looked to draft Porter. Most pundits, including Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe, projected him going to the Houston Rockets with the 19th pick in the draft, while Jan Hubbard of The Dallas Morning News had him going to the Detroit Pistons with the number 18 pick. He was considered the second-best choice at point guard, behind Sam Vincent of Michigan State. On June 18, 1985, the Portland Trail Blazers selected Porter with the 24th overall pick in the NBA draft. On February 5, 1987, Porter recorded his first career triple-double after recording 18 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists in a 105–104 win over the visiting Los Angeles Lakers. A month later, Porter recorded his second career triple-double after recording 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a losing effort against the Seattle SuperSonics. During the 1987–88 season, Porter averaged 10.1 assists per game, making him the only player in the Trail Blazers' franchise history to average double-digit in assists in a season. Porter scored a career-high 40 points to go along with six rebounds and 12 assists in a 121–116 win over the Golden State Warriors on March 18, 1988. On April 14, Porter recorded 25 points and a career-high 19 assists in a 128–123 road win against the Utah Jazz. On May 2, 1995, Porter recorded his 5,318 and 5,319 assist as a Portland Trail Blazers player. During the game, Trail Blazers' starter Rod Strickland recorded 10 assists in game 3 loss against Phoenix Suns. During his decade-long tenure in Portland, Porter went to the NBA Finals twice, in 1990 and 1992. Porter played in the NBA All-Star Game in 1991 and 1993 and was the recipient of the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 1993. As of 2010, Porter was the Trail Blazers' all-time assists leader, with 5,319.
Porter signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Timberwolves prior to the 1995–96 season and helped the Wolves clinch their first-ever playoff berth in 1996–97 and their first winning season the following year.
He signed with the Miami Heat on January 22, 1999. On February 9, he scored a season-high 21 points to go along with three assists and three steals in a 108–101 home loss to the Boston Celtics.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
