'Nova gets UCF in Old Spice opener

Villanova will face the University of Central Florida Knights of Conference USA in the opening round of the Old Spice Classic Thanksgiving tournament, according to the bracket recently updated by ESPN and tournament organizers.

The 8-team tournament also features NC State, Kansas State, South Carolina, George Mason, Penn State, and Rider University. All games in the 3-day tournament will be played in Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida.

Villanova will play the first game of day one's second session, and tip-time is slated for 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 22. Should Villanova defeat UCF in round one, the Wildcats will face the winner of Kansas State and George Mason in the semifinal round.

All championship bracket games will air on ESPN2, while consolation games will be shown on ESPNU.

Woman released in Porter case

An article posted today on CBS's WCCO Web site reports that Tonya Washington, the 33-year-old St. Paul woman arrested Sunday in the Howard Porter murder investigation was released and will not be charged at this time.

St. Paul police said that there is insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against Washington. Though there was speculation that Washington and Porter had known each other, no official details have been given.

Authorities also released a man arrested Sunday night in connection with the case who was widely believed to be the current or former boyfriend of Washington. No charges have been filed against that individual.

Though police assured the media that they still had several leads on the case to consider, the release of Washington likely signals that the Howard Porter murder mystery is back to square one, at least for now.

Woman arrested in Porter murder

According to a story published today in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, a 33-year-old woman was arrested Sunday night in St. Paul in connection with the murder of former Villanova basketball star Howard Porter.

KSPT, ABC television's Twin-Cities affiliate, reports on its Web site that the woman is named Tonya Washington and was arrested at 9:30 p.m. Sunday,

Police would not comment on the details regarding the arrest, but did say they have referred the case to the Ramsey County (Minnesota) attorney general's office.

There are $25,000 in rewards for information on Porter's death, according to the Star Tribune, and police are still seeking other suspects and evaluating further evidence in the case.

Porter honored amidst murder mystery

ESPN runs two pieces on the memorial service for Howard Porter. The first piece is a standard AP report on Porter's funeral service in St. Paul, Minn.

According to that article, more than 500 mourners attended the Minnesota funeral on Saturday. Those in attendance included relatives, friends, and former teammates, all of whom praised Porter's life on and off the basketball court.

The second article is from freelance sportswriter Jay Weiner, who gives us more details on the mysterious murder case at the forefront of Porter's tragedy.

According to Weinar, there are scores of unanswered questions about what happened to Porter:

Did Porter voluntarily walk out the house's front door that Friday night and head somewhere to meet somebody or to check on a client on probation?
Or was he forced out?
Did he exit out a side door, toward the garage, to get into a rented Cadillac? Why was the car rented from Enterprise in the days just before his murder?
[...]
Was Porter forced to this narrow street one block from busy Interstate I-94, which connects the Twin Cities to Chicago? Was he beaten here, then transported the 20 minutes by car, past the skyscrapers of downtown Minneapolis, to be dumped in that alley?
Or did the crime occur in Minneapolis, the car abandoned in St. Paul later?

Whether or not we ever get any answers to these questions is anyone's guess.

One thing that is for sure is Porter's great impact on Villanova basketball and on society in general. Two more funerals are planned, one each in Villanova and Florida, to honor Porter.