Utah Valley women's basketball head coach
Cathy Nixon announced Wednesday, Sept. 5, the hiring of BJ Porter to her staff as an assistant coach ahead of the 2018-19 season.
A native of Layton, Utah, Porter returns to his home state after stints as an assistant women's basketball coach at Pepperdine of the West Coast Conference in 2017-18 and men's basketball head coach at NAIA program Antelope Valley in 2016-17. Porter also helped UAV ring in the school's men's basketball program as an assistant coach for its inaugural season in 2015-16.
"We are thrilled to have BJ back home in Utah," said Nixon, who enters her 24th year at UVU in 2018-19. "We're so excited to have his experience, passion and work ethic become a part of our program. We know he's going to make us better as a team, and I'm grateful for the chance to bring in the type of person he is with the integrity that he has. I can't wait for him to come in and get to work with our staff and girls."
While serving as an assistant at Pepperdine, Porter formed part of a staff that coached Yasmine Robinson-Bacote to her second straight All-WCC first team nod and the 1,000-point mark for her career in 2017-18. During his tenure at UAV, Porter coached two-time NAIA All-American honorable mention Franky Teran, as well as three CalPac all-conference players and one CalPac Defensive Player Of The Year.
"It's an amazing opportunity to come back here and to be able to learn from this whole staff and the amount of experience that they have as coaches. I'm excited for all the things they bring to the Wolverine family and I'm very grateful to become a part of that as well. My wife, daughter and I are ecstatic to come back home to Utah," said Porter.
Prior to his coaching stints at the collegiate level, Porter spent the 2014-15 season as the women's basketball head coach at the Layton Christian Academy. During that year, Porter guided his squad to a region championship directly after posting back-to-back one-win seasons before his arrival.
Porter also enjoyed a standout college basketball career, playing at Portland and Weber State before wrapping up his career at Division II Azusa Pacific where he earned all-conference and all-region honors. After his collegiate playing time, the 6-3 guard took part in several pre-draft workouts with NBA teams and went on to play professionally in Parral, Mexico, for Mineros de Parral.
In 2013, Porter graduated with a Bachelor's degree in sociology from Azusa Pacific. In addition, he previously held a job with the World Star Basketball Academy.
UVU's first-year assistant, Porter will be relocating to Utah with his wife, Katrina, and daughter, Tatum.
