25 Tommy Porter

Tommy Porter was a forward for the University of Kentucky Wildcats, playing from 1965 to 1968 under the legendary coach Adolph Rupp. Standing at 6’3″ and weighing 188 pounds, he hailed from Gracey, Kentucky, and attended Christian County High School before joining the Wildcats. Porter contributed significantly to the team during a competitive era that included stars like Pat Riley and Louie Dampier. Known for his defensive skills and team play, Porter left a mark on Kentucky basketball as part of the iconic “Rupp’s Runts” squad.

Porter was born October 17, 1945, in Christian County, Kentucky to Dr. Dovard Thomas Porter and Angie Moore Porter.  When he was in sixth grade, Porter attended a 4-H conference in Lexington.  While there, he sought out Adolph Rupp’s office and told Coach Rupp there was nothing he wanted more than to play basketball for Kentucky.  On April 2, 1964, it was Coach Rupp who went to see Porter to sign him to a grant-in-aid to fulfill his dream come true.

Before attending Kentucky, Porter held the unusual (for an athlete) distinction of being named Kentucky’s Star Farmer of 1964, an honor given by the state Future Farmers of America Chapter.  Porter was chosen from a list of 385 candidates for the highest degree given by the organization.  Porter and his parents lived on a 315-acre Christian County farm.  He was past president and director of the Kentucky Junior Hereford Association.  Coach Rupp was a long-time president of the Kentucky Hereford Association.

Operating as a center and forward for Christian County High, Porter notched 1,212 career points in three years of cage play and led his team in his final season with a 17.5 average point production and 15 rebounds a game.  He was a First team All-State choice and played in the Kentucky-Indiana All-Star series with Jim LeMaster (Kentucky) and Steve Clevenger (Indiana).

As a sophomore at Kentucky, Porter played only 63 minutes in 14 games. He netted 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the season. Rupp felt he needed to show more “meanness” in his court behavior but was confident his true potential would be demonstrated with more playing time.

As a junior, Porter played 168 minutes in 18 games and scored 49 points on the season. He got the nod for a starting assignment in a 60-58 win over Auburn at Memorial Coliseum. He hit 51.4% of his shots, averaging 2.7 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.

As a senior, Porter saw less playing time, seeing action for 108 minutes in 17 games.  He averaged 3.4 points per outing. He wrote a glorious ending to his regular-season career, however, when he came off the bench against Vanderbilt to make seven of 18 shots from the floor to tie sophomore Mike Pratt for runner-up scoring honors with 16 points.

Porter graduated from Dental School at Kentucky, then served two years in the Air Force before returning to Hopkinsville, Kentucky to practice dentistry.