COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- June 4, 2009 -- Hall of Famer Lonnie Porter will be the Master of Ceremonies of the RMAC Centennial Celebration on Saturday, July 11 at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2009. The RMAC is the fourth oldest conference in the country, and the most historic in the western U.S.

The RMAC Centennial Celebration will honor more than 200 of the best student-athletes and coaches who have participated in the conference during the past century.

In addition to Porter, there will be 16 presenters, who also represent some of the top athletes and coaches in the history of the league.

"It's a great honor to be selected for this event," said Porter. "This is a historical milestone. Throughout the years, the RMAC has been one of the great conferences in the country."

Porter has been associated with the RMAC since 1961, when he was a first team All-RMAC basketball player as a freshman at Adams State College. In fact, Porter was named first team All-RMAC four times, and was the conference's leading scorer for three seasons. He also lettered in track & field three times. In 1992, Porter's No. 20 was retired at Adams State. He was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, the Adams State Hall of Fame in 2002 and the RMAC Hall of Fame in 2004. This past year, Porter was named to the RMAC Men's Basketball All-Time Team, placing in the top five in the voting.

Porter's coaching career also began in the RMAC, leading the Adams State freshman team in 1966. He went on to have success as a coach at the high school level, leading Denver Manual to a state championship in 1971. Then Porter spent five seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Nebraska. In 1977, Porter became the head men's basketball coach at Regis College (now University), and led the Rangers to the RMAC championship. This upcoming season will be Porter's 33rd at Regis.

Porter will move into an exclusive group of coaches in the near future. He currently has a 497-387 (.562) career record, just three wins away from 500. Porter is the all-time winningest collegiate coach in Colorado history. His players have also graduated at a rate of 96 percent.

In 1996, he began the Lonnie Porter Leadership Academy (formerly Summer Academy) at Regis University, an annual three-week academic summer program that provides at-risk youth from the Denver area the skills to stay in school, combat negative peer pressure, graduate from high school and attend college. The academy received a large boost in 2006 when NBA All-Star and 2004 NBA Finals MVP Chauncey Billups joined up with Porter and the academy was re-named the Porter-Billups Leadership Academy.

Tickets to the RMAC Centennial Celebration can be purchased for $50 on the RMAC website, www.rmacsports.org.