Media
Steve Porter
Year Inducted: 2002
Category: Media
Schools / Organizations:
Collinsville Herald, Alton Daily Telegraph, Alton AdVantage
Biography:
Southwestern Illinois native Steve Porter covered the basketball scene for 45 years and continues to have an influential impact with his tremendous knowledge of high school basketball.
Triad High School basketball coach Rich Mason realized the 5-foot-2 Porter wouldn’t play center for the Knights so Porter was steered toward sportswriting by Mason and his junior high coach, Harold Schwehr. Porter started covering basketball in 1972 as a senior at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and spent two years at the Collinsville Herald before joining the Alton Daily Telegraph as assistant sports editor and a sportswriter in December 1973.
In January 1982, Porter was promoted to Sports Editor of the Alton Telegraph. The Telegraph served Madison, Jersey, Greene, Calhoun and Macoupin counties. Porter coordinated local, state and national coverage on a daily basis. Porter’s weekly columns, both informative and with personal opinion, along with game coverage, were followed by readers in the Metro-East Area for years until his retirement in 2013. His informative accounts were known for their accuracy and being very descriptive. After his retirement from the Telegraph, Porter spent three years writing for the Alton AdVantage.
Among the memories he proudly points to in Class AA are covering the four state crowns won by East St. Louis Lincoln in the 1980’s. In Class A, Porter remembers the scoring prowess of Lawrenceville’s Jay Shidler in the 1976 tournament and the coaching ability of Larry Graham at two-time state champion Madison.
The Edwardsville resident has received numerous honors and stays very involved on numerous committees which are a testament to his positive and professional manner as a reporter. He was inducted into the halls of fame for the Illinois Amateur Softball Association (2004), Alton City Golf (2007) and Alton High School Athletics (2019). He received the American Legion Baseball Meritorious Service Award (2016) and the Leroy Emerick Meritorious Service Award from ASA Softball (2021).
Porter is also a member of the IBCA Legacy Committee, Larry Graham Southwestern Illinois Hall of Fame Committee, St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame Committee for Illinois inductees and the Gallatin Awards Committee recognizing the top basketball players in the Alton area.
