Press Conference Video -
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PORTLAND, Ore. --- The University of Portland officially introduced new head men's basketball coach Terry Porter at a press conference, which took place on Tuesday afternoon at the Chiles Center. About 500 fans were in attendance, as coach Porter spoke about taking the helm of the UP men's hoops program.
Portland Athletics Director Scott Leykam also spoke at the event, which was attended by every major media outlet from the Portland metropolitan area.
Porter, a 17-year NBA veteran player and former NBA head coach, was announced last week as the 21st basketball head coach in Pilot history. Porter brings a wealth of basketball experience to the UP campus, having been a head coach and assistant in the NBA. He has been a committed member of the community and dedicated his post-playing career to many service projects, including creating the Milwaukee Scholars Fund, which provides college scholarships to minority students in his native hometown. He is also a Boys and Girls Club Hall of Fame member.
A standout for the Portland Trail Blazers, Porter had his jersey retired by the franchise in 2009. During his 17-year NBA career, Porter averaged 12.2 points, 5.6 assists, 1.2 steals, made two All-Star appearances (1991, 1993), two trips to the NBA Finals (1990, 1992) and scored 15,586 career points. He currently ranks 14th on the NBA's all-time assist leaderboard (7,160).
A Milwaukee, Wisc. native, Porter brings extensive NBA coaching experience to the Pilots. He was the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks for two seasons (2003-05), including leading the team to the 2004 NBA Playoffs. He served one season as head coach of the Phoenix Suns (2008-09) and was also an assistant coach at Minnesota, Sacramento and Detroit.
