Reading the numbers that he has put up during his four years at DU, it would be easy to categorize Pioneer senior Antonio Porch as merely a talented athlete. But, as current men’s basketball interim Head Coach Kevin Reynolds points out, he is much more than just a basketball player.

“He is a great player,” said Reynolds, who has watched Porch mature into the player and person that he is over the past four years. “But even with how good he can play, he is an even better person. The Denver University community is better off having a guy like him on this campus.”

This is a common opinion of nearly anyone that has come to know Porch since he has been on campus. However, it is still hard to overlook the impressive numbers that the 6-foot-8 inch senior has put up during his career.

This last weekend, Porch scored his 1000th career point and grabbed his 500th career rebound, milestones that he will certainly cherish long after he is done playing.

“It means a lot to me,” said Porch of his statistical accomplishment. “It’s not something that I set out to do. I’m not going to go out here and jack up shots just to get the 1000 points. But it is something great, something that I can tell my kids and be proud of.”

Born in Peoria, Ill., Porch and his family moved to Denver when he was in eighth grade. He attended Denver East High School, guiding his team to an impressive 60-8 record during his three seasons with the varsity squad.

His time at Denver East proved to be extremely valuable as he played for a coach that he felt had a tremendous impact on his growth as a player and a person.

“Coach Carey at East High School was a great influence for me,” said Porch of East High Head Coach Rudy Carey. “He would get on my butt when he had to…he was just a great coach, he really did what he had to do. He had a huge impact on me.”

While under the tutelage of Carey, Porch became the premier high school basketball player in the state of Colorado, averaging 16.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and earning the Denver Post Mr. Colorado Basketball award during his senior season.

All the accolades and success gave Porch many opportunities to play basketball at the collegiate level, but for him, a person who places his family as the top priority, the decision was very easy to become a Pioneer.

“I wanted to stay home,” said Porch, who is one of seven children in his single-parent family.

“My little brother was just going to high school, just developing as a player. My mom wanted to see me play. I really wanted to stay home so my family could watch me play and I could watch my brother play,” Porch said.

Staying in Denver and staying near his family was something that Porch says is most important to him, as he is looked at to help his mother and six siblings as the man of his house.

Though Porch was a highly accomplished prep player, he came to DU with modest expectations for himself.

“Coming in as a freshman, I was just hoping to do well, to earn the respect of my coaches and my teammates,” said Porch. “I just wanted to come out and play hard, earn the respect of everyone that I played with or against.”

It’s easy to say that since joining the Pioneers, Porch has done just that. As a freshman, he saw action in 24 games, averaging 4.7 points and scoring 12 points three different times.

Though his first year statistics showed a fairly easy adjustment, it wasn’t as easy as it appeared to jump from high school to the Division I level.

“Dealing with the physical aspect of college basketball, it was a lot harder [than high school],” said Porch of his rookie season. “Getting beat up, playing hard on every play, it was all rough on me at first, but after a while it was all right.”

From a fan’s perspective, his career has seemed much more than ‘all right.’ Porch was part of DU’s first ever conference championship in men’s basketball while leading the Pioneers to the National Invitational Tournament during the same season.

Though it would be easy to settle for the things that Porch has accomplished in his career, there is much more that he would like to do with the Pioneers this season, despite their unimpressive record.

“I want to be able to lead our team to some more wins and go strong into the conference tournament,” said Porch, who is confident about his team’s ability to play every team in the Sun Belt Conference evenly despite what the Pioneers’ record may show.

“We definitely know that we can beat the teams that we are going to come up against; it just depends on if we show up that night,” Porch added.

Though Porch has high hopes for the rest of the season, he says that despite what happens he has thoroughly enjoyed his time as a Pioneer and will earn his degree in real estate and marketing this spring.

Porch has now put himself near the top of both the Pioneer career scoring and rebounding lists, ensuring a legacy that will be long remembered both for his play and for the person that he has become.

“He will be remembered not only as a good player but a good person,” said Reynolds of his senior leader.

Porch and the rest of his Pioneers will next be in action this Thursday at Magness Arena as they take on North Texas at 7 p.m. MT.