AztecSportsReport.com - Porter responds to challenge of playing at SDSU

October 27, 2009

Tom Shanahan
AztecSportsReport.com Senior Writer

San Diego State women's basketball recruit Jasmine Porter stands 6-foot-2 and ranks among the top 100 girls high school players in the country.

So, relatively speaking, she isn't alone. Around the country there are a couple dozen tall, athletic girls just like her that were highly recruited.

But what separates such similar talents once they reach college is some thrive on the challenge of competition against athletes of similar ability and size and others wilt from it.

There seems to be little doubt which half of the talent pool describes Porter, a versatile player from Layton (Utah) Christian Academy.

This is how she responded the first time she saw San Diego State center Paris Johnson play on television:

"I saw how good she is," Porter said. "I said, 'I want to play with this team.' I knew how much I would improve practicing against her."

Johnson, a 6-foot-4 junior, will be a senior when Porter arrives next year to join a front court that will include 6-2 Allison Duffy, a junior eligible this year after last season's suspension; 6-3 Jessika Bradley, a junior transfer from Baylor eligible this year after redshirting last year; 6-6 Milia Nahinu, a sophomore Arizona transfer eligible in 2010-11.

The other anecdote that describes how Porter responds to challenges took place on a recruiting visit by SDSU head coach Beth Burns.

"She didn't sugarcoat anything," Porter said. "She told me how it is at San Diego State. She told me if I come there, I would fit in to how they play; they wouldn't try to fit around me. I liked that."

Porter also had offers from Utah, UNLV, South Carolina, Pitt and Villanova.

Porter averaged 18.1 points a game with a high of 37 and frequent double-doubles. She's 6-2 but plays taller with a 6-4 wingspan.

Porter comes from a basketball family. Her father, Bobby, played at Tennessee Tech and is the boys coach at Layton Christian Academy. Her older brother, B.J., is a 6-4 sophomore guard at Portland, one of the top teams in the West Coast Conference.

With similar heights, they played plenty of basketball together.

"We would play for bragging rights," Porter said. "We were always in the gym with our dad since I was about 3. (Her brother) was always a good influence on my game. He always told me, 'You don't know how good you can be.' "

One reason Porter committed to San Diego State is she sees Burns' program that is on the rise. Last year the Aztecs shared the Mountain West Conference title with Utah and won a first-round NCAA tournament game over DePaul before falling to Stanford.

"I loved the campus, the coaches and the team," Porter said. "I can't wait to start playing with them as a freshman. They're going to get better and better."

Contact Tom Shanahan at shanny4055@aol.com.

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