Ex-'Nova star Porter fights for life

Howard Porter, one of the all-time great Villanova Wildcats, was found seriously injured Sunday in a Minnesota hospital after apparently suffering from an abduction and brutal assault.

Porter, 58, was reported missing earlier this weekend, but it was not until photos were released by police that he was located Sunday, already in a St.-Paul-area hospital, unconscious and previously unidentified.

According to a source cited by Dana Pennett O'Neil today in the Philadelphia Daily News, Porter "has severe brain damage and might not survive."

Porter had been working in Minnesota as a Ramsey County probation officer. There is no word yet on whether the attack is related to one of his probation cases.

According to a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer, police have no reason to believe Porter suffered a drug relapse. Porter had struggled with cocaine use in the seventies and eighties.

Porter led his 1971 Villanova Wildcats team to a Final-Four appearance and was voted the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player. He played professional basketball in the NBA until 1978.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune runs a comprehensive timeline of Porter's life.