When the doors to the Marshall M Club Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame open for the first time Saturday, Terry Culhane, Terry Porter and Aaron Banks will be entering.

Three prominent individuals make up the inaugural class of the Marshall M Club Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame: Terry Porter, Terry Culhane and Aaron Banks. All three made a significant mark on the school’s athletic tradition through their dedication to and performance in Marshall athletics.

The trio will be honored at a banquet at 6 p.m. on Saturday at the Ramada Inn in Marshall.

Porter, a 1964 graduate of Marshall High School, had outstanding success as a three-sport athlete. His biggest accomplishment was leading the Marshall boys basketball team to its first-ever Minnesota State High School League State Championship in 1963. That title was unique because every team in the state competed in a single class.

That season was a top memory for Porter.

“It had to be the state championship game and winning that and coming back. The town was so involved with our games. They’d pack them in,” said Porter.

He also credited the team for helping create such a lasting memory.

“My teammates were just fantastic. We’d do anything to win. It didn’t matter who was going to score as long as we had that team concept,” said Porter.

Porter was named one of 50 national High School All-Americans in 1964.

After earning 11 varsity letters at Marshall, Porter went on to have a distinguished basketball career at St. Cloud State University. He was a two-time team captain and two-time all-conference selection. At the time of his graduation from SCSU, he was the all-time leading scorer in school history. He was selected into the SCSU Hall of Fame in 1990.

“It’s very humbling experience with all the great sports tradition in Marshall. I think it’s going to be hard decisions in the next few years because there are so many qualified applicants,” said Porter.

While best known for his coaching accomplishments, Culhane started out as an outstanding athlete. He competed in football, basketball and baseball at Marshall High School. He was an all-Southwest Conference selection in basketball and was a member of two district championship basketball teams in 1972 and 1973. He was also a member of the 1972 baseball team that qualified for the state tournament.

After graduating from Southwest Minnesota State University in 1978, Culhane began coaching volleyball and girls basketball at Milroy, then at Tracy-Milroy, winning seven state titles – five in volleyball and two in basketball. In 1997, he returned to Marshall to coach girls basketball and led the team to back-to-back state titles in 2001 and 2002.

He also coached girls volleyball from 2000-2003, where he led the team to three state tournament appearances. His team finished at state runner-up in 2002.

Culhane said he was honored by the selection.

“It’s humbling to think that people hold you in that regard. It’s not something you seek. It’s just a nice award,” he said.

Athletics have been a lifelong passion for Culhane.

“I grew up being around sports. I always knew I wanted to coach at some capacity. I’ve enjoyed that. It’s something that I’ve liked doing. What I’ve liked the most is that every team brings a different personality. It’s always nice to see if you can get that makeup steered the right way,” he said.

Culhane is a member of both the Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame and Minnesota Girls’ Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame. He currently is the volleyball coach at SMSU, where he has led the team to a national Division II tournament every year, including a national runner-up finish in 2014.

Banks, a 1992 graduate, earned all-Southwest Conference honors in football, basketball and track and field. Banks was team captain of the only MHS football team to qualify for a state tournament. He was part of two Southwest Conference Championship basketball teams.

Track and field was the sport that brought Banks the most success. He won the state discus champion in 1992 and finished fifth in shot put that same year. He still holds the school record in discus.

“It’s a big honor, and it’s very humbling knowing that there are so many other people that are deserving of this just as much as I could be. It’s hard to put it into words,” said Banks.

Banks said the selection was a tribute to the supportive culture in Marshall.

“The whole honor is reflective of all of those people, not just me,” he said.

Banks went on to compete at Concordia College where he earned 11 All-America selections. He placed 12th at the 2000 United State Track and Field National Olympic Trials in the shot-put and fifth in the 2000 United State Indoor Track and Field National Championships.

Banks is now a professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.