Jeri Porter enters her fourth season as head coach of the Radford University women’s basketball program and the future looks bright for the Highlanders.

In just her second season on the RU bench, Porter guided the Highlanders to their first winning season (15-14) since 1995-96 and their first victory (58-57 at Charleston Southern) in the Big South Tournament in five years.

Having the reputation as a solid recruiter, two members of Porter’s first signing class were named to the Big South’s All-Rookie team. It was the first time RU has had two freshmen honored and the first time they had a All-Rookie performer since the 1995-96 season. Also, last year’s team had two players on the All-Conference team since 1999-2000.

Porter was named Radford University's fifth head women's basketball coach on April 4, 2002, following four years as the head coach at University of North Alabama.

She took her first head coaching position at UNA on April 14, 1998 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.

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. She guided them to a 21-7 overall and 12-2 record 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.

Along with the reputation as a solid recruiter, she was known as a coach that took 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 assistant golf coach and academic coordinator at Radford. The Porters have one son, Edward John (E.J.), 4.

THE FILE ON PORTER

PLAYING EXPERIENCE:
Basketball, Liberty University, 1990-92

EDUCATION:
B.S. in Psychology, Liberty University, 1991

COACHING EXPERIENCE:
Head Coach, Radford University 2002-present (9-18)
Head Coach at University of North Alabama 1998-2002 (64-43)
Assistant Coach at Liberty University, 1992-98

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