RADFORD, Va. – Jeri Porter was named Radford University's Head Women's Basketball Coach. It was announced today by RU Athletic Director Greig Denny. (For more on this story, see the RU News Video release. Available in Real Player and Windows Media format.)
Porter comes to Radford after spending four seasons as the head women's basketball coach at the University of North Alabama in Florence, Ala., to become the fifth head coach in Radford history.
"We feel strongly that Coach Porter is the right fit at the right time to take the Highlander Women's Basketball program to the next level," said Denny. "She brings a wealth of coaching experience and knowledge to this position in addition to being familiar with the Big South Conference."
RU President Dr. Douglas Covington also echoed Denny's comments. "We are pleased to have Coach Jeri W. Porter as Radford University's new Head Women's Basketball Coach. Coach Porter's credentials are most impressive and she brings a new style and focus to the women's basketball program at RU. We are expecting to reassert ourselves as the major power to be reckoned with in the Big South Conference."
Porter's familiarity with the Big South Conference stems from her days as a player (1990-92) and assistant coach (1992-98) at BSC foe Liberty University. While at the Lynchburg, Va. school, she assisted Rick Reeves assemble Liberty's first two BSC championships, ending Radford's seven-year championship run.
In her four-year tenure at UNA, Porter led the Lions to a 64-43 record that included three straight winning seasons and a Gulf South Conference East Division championship in 2000. That season, Porter garnered GSC Coach of the Year honors, advancing UNA to the semifinals of the GSC Tournament.
Porter's first duty at RU, will be to assemble a staff. A national search is expected to begin immediately.
HEAD COACH JERRI PORTER (Bio)
Following four years as the head coach at University of North Alabama, Jeri Porter was named Radford University's fifth head women's basketball coach on April 4, 2002.
After spending six seasons under head coach Rick Reeves as an assistant at Liberty University, and winning the Big South Conference Championship in her last two years, Porter took her first head coaching position at UNA on April 14, 1998.
In her four-year tenure at UNA, Porter, 32, led the Lions to a 64-43 record that included three straight winning seasons and a Gulf South Conference East Division championship in 2000. That season, Porter garnered GSC Coach of the Year honors, advancing UNA to the semifinals of the GSC Tournament. She guided them to a 21-7 overall and 12-2 in the GSC, marking the most wins at UNA since the 1993-94 team won 22 games on the way to the NCAA Division II Final Four.
Porter, in her first year, led the Lions to an overall mark of 13-14 that included a 6-8 record in the Gulf South Conference and a spot in the GSC Tournament. UNA finished 15-11 in 2001 and 2002, falling in the first round of the GSC Tournament the later year.
Known as a solid recruiter and a coach that takes care of the academic interests of her athletes at UNA, she recruited two consecutive GSC Rookie-of-the Years (2000 & 2001) and two all-conference players in 2000. Also, her teams were regularly recognized for their academic achievements, including the highest GPA of 3.19 in the athletic department for the 2001-02 year.
Porter's familiarity with the Big South Conference stems from her day as a player (1990-92) and assistant coach (1992-98) at BSC foe Liberty University. In 1998, she helped direct the Lady Flames to a 28-1 record that included the Big South Conference regular-season and tournament championships and an NCAA Tournament bid. The Lady Flames' only loss was to eventual national champion Tennessee. That followed a 22-7 record in 1997 that included the Big South Tournament championship, ending Radford's seven-year run.
As the primary recruiter for the Flames, Porter was responsible for recruiting two-time BSC Player-of-the-Year Elena Kisseleva and 2000 Player-of-the-Year Sharon Wilkerson. She also was responsible for other all-conference players and two Rookie-of-the-Years.
As a player, Porter was inducted into the Lady Flames Hall-of-Fame in the spring of 1998. She was also selected the Most Valuable Player for the Liberty basketball team for both the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons, and was selected first-team All-Big South Conference for the 1991-92 season.
In her two years, she was Liberty's leading scorer, averaging 10.6 and 14.5 points per game in 1991 and 1992 respectively. She also led the team in assists (148) and steals (52) in 1991. Porter scored 717 points in just two seasons and still ranks among the top 20 scorers in school history.
A 1991 graduate of Liberty with a B.S. degree in Psychology, Porter, a native of Capital Heights, Md., is married to Mike Porter. The Porters have one son, Edward John (E.J.).
THE FILE ON JERI PORTER
PLAYING EXPERIENCE:
Basketball, Liberty University, 1990-92
EDUCATION:
B.S. in Psychology, Liberty University, 1991
COACHING EXPERIENCE:
Assistant Coach at Liberty University, 1992-98
Head Coach at University of North Alabama 1998-Present (64-43)
COACHING HONORS:
1999-00 Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year
COACHING RECORDS:
University of North Alabama (1998-2002) 64-43
Liberty University (1992-98) 99-71
ATHLETIC ACHIEVEMENTS:
Inducted into Liberty University Hall of Fame, 1998
Big South First Team All-Conference, 1992
Big South All-Tournament Team, 1992
MVP Lady Flames Basketball Team, 1991 & 1992
