Original article (Veteran Coach Porter Added to WBB Coaching Staff) on the Georgia State University athletic website georgiastatesports.com.
Georgia State women’s basketball has added Jeri Porter to its coaching staff, head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener has announced.
Porter joins new assistants Erin Batth and Katie Pate this offseason to give Georgia State a deep and veteran staff.
Porter is a veteran of 15 years of collegiate head coaching with more than 200 career victories. She comes to Georgia State from a five-year stint at former rival George Mason (2008-2013). Porter’s stellar career included six years as head coach at Radford, guiding that school to 93 wins, two Big South titles and a WNIT bid. She had a 23-12 and a 20-11 season at Radford. Prior to that, Porter led North Alabama to a 64-43 record in four years, winning league coach-of-the-year honors with a 21-7 season. Her 20-plus years in coaching have developed strong recruiting ties.
As an assistant coach, Porter learned her trade for six seasons under coach Rick Reeves at her alma mater, Liberty. She was a part of conference championship teams her final two years.
As a player, Porter is in the Liberty Flames Hall of Fame for her career that saw her earn all-conference honors for two years as one of the top 20 scorers in school history.
Porter and her husband Mike have two children, son Edward John (E.J.) and daughter Jada Nicole.
“Jeri Porter will be an extremely beneficial addition to our program,” Baldwin-Tener said. “I have a ton of respect for her and the way her teams played at Mason. She is a well-respected person and will be another role model for our student-athletes. I know she will bring a high level of basketball knowledge and a lot of ideas to our program. I am extremely excited to be able to add Jeri to our staff at Georgia State.”
The Georgia State four-member coaching staff combines more than 65 years of basketball coaching to teach the current student-athletes. All four coaches were all-conference student-athletes themselves and understand the preparation and work that goes into being successful.
Georgia State finished fifth in the Sun Belt Conference in its first year of competition in the league and the Panthers return 12 players for 2014-15, while adding a trio of recruits.