Craig Porter Jr. puts cap on stellar season on senior day

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - “Without a doubt, Craig is like a son to me,” said Wichita State head coach Isaac Brown. “The guys love playing with him. He makes other guys around him better.”

Coming into the 2022-23 season, there was a lot of unknowns on the Wichita State basketball roster. With 11 new faces in the program, the Shockers needed someone to step up to help lead the ship. For that role, all eyes turned to the point guard from Terre Haute, Indiana, Craig Porter Jr.

“Anytime you’re starting a basketball team, it starts with your point guard; the veteran guy that knows your system,” Brown said. “[Someone who] can get guys around him and make them better, and he did a great job.”

Sunday afternoon, Porter put a bow on his career in Charles Koch Arena. A career that included a coaching change, the first American Athletic Conference championship at Wichita State and many different faces over the three years. Despite all the uncertainties, one thing was a constant: Porter filling the stat sheet.

In fitting fashion, his final home game included nothing more than a career high 24 points in front of the Shocker faithful.

“I really just wanted to put on a show for them and just leave Koch Arena for my final game with the best I could do, so that’s just what I did,” said Porter.

His final collegiate regular season finished with Porter averaging a conference top-five clip 4.5 assists per game, a top-three blocks per game finish as well as 13.4 points per game.

Porter Jr. announced he was entering the transfer portal in April of 2022, but announced his return to Wichita less than a week after. When asked about his play this season and if he felt he made the right decision, his response was nothing but grateful for Wichita State University.

“It’s just me at the end of the day, so I’m just glad I got to do this here. I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.”

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