Jun. 23—Although he didn't get drafted Thursday night, former Terre Haute South High School standout Craig Porter Jr. has signed a two-way contract with the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.

According to cleveland.com, the Cavs agreed to the contract with the undrafted free agent moments after the 2023 draft ended early Friday morning.

A 6-foot-2, 186-pound guard, Porter graduated from Terre Haute South — where he played only two varsity seasons and does not rank in the high school's all-time top 10 in scoring — in 2018.

"I am truly excited and happy for Craig," South coach Maynard Lewis told the Tribune-Star after hearing the news. "He deserves this opportunity for all the hard work and positive attitude he had throughout the course of the years. He is a great young man with a great character.

"I am truly grateful for the opportunity to have been able to coach him."

"Craig has always been an underdog at every stop," South athletic director Ed Jarvis emphasized, "and then outworks everyone [to earn more playing time and increase his status]."

Now 23, Porter began his collegiate career as a JUCO player, leading Vincennes University to a 62-7 record over two seasons and winning the NJCAA national championship in 2019. After receiving interest from a number of programs, including Indiana, Kansas, UConn, Oregon, Ole Miss, West Virginia, Texas Tech and Indiana State, he ultimately transferred to Wichita State, where he played three more years.

With the Shockers, Porter averaged 13.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists per outing in 31 games (30 as a starter) as a fifth-year senior during the 2022-23 season. His high-point game was 24 against South Florida on March 5.

The Terre Haute native earned Third Team All-American Athletic Conference honors. According to cleveland.com, he also became the first player in WSU history to lead the team in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.

Prior to that, Porter tallied 7.3 ppg in 2021-22 (starting 24 out of 25 contests) and 2.1 ppg in 2020-21 (starting twice).

A story written by the Wichita Eagle's Taylor Eldridge said "two-way contracts allow NBA teams to move the player between the NBA team and its G League affiliate throughout the season, essentially allowing NBA teams to keep undrafted players 'on retainer' without signing them to a full-time contract. Each NBA team is allowed to offer three two-way contracts per season to players with fewer than four years of NBA experience."

Eldridge also speculated that Porter probably will begin his career playing for the Cavaliers' G League team, the Cleveland Charge, although he could play up to 50 games in the NBA for the Cavaliers on his two-way contract. He also is guaranteed a first-year salary of approximately $551,000, Eldridge added.

"It's likely Porter will get his first taste of NBA action playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas from July 7-17," the Eagle's story continued. "The schedule has yet to be finalized, but should be announced soon by the NBA."

Cleveland.com said Porter worked out for the Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, Washington Wizards and Cavs during the pre-draft process.

During the 2022-23 NBA regular season, the Cavs finished with a 51-31 record, good for the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. But they lost to the fifth-seeded New York Knicks four games to one in the first round of the conference playoffs.

Their leading scorers during the regular season were shooting guard Donovan Mitchell (28.3 ppg) and point guard Darius Garland (21.6 ppg).