Nov. 11, 2009
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State women's basketball head coach Beth Burns announced the signing Wednesday of forward Jasmine Porter (Layton, Utah) and combo guard Melissa Sweat (Bakersfield, Calif.) to National Letters of Intent. The pair, who are each ranked among the top 100 recruits in the nation, will join the Aztecs in 2010.
Jasmine Porter has been rated as the No. 18 power forward recruit in the nation and is 94th overall according to Hoopgurlz.com. She attends Layton Christian Academy (LCA) in Layton, Utah, where she is already the school's all-time leading scorer under head coach Shara Fernandi.
"Jasmine is a terrific fit for our style of play," Burns said. "She is extremely long and athletic and has a great upside. At 6-2 ½, she has excellent face-up skills and has been well schooled by her dad, who is the boys coach at LCA, and challenged by her brother, who is a junior on the University of Portland basketball team.
"Jasmine and her parents, Bobby and Tenna, were all here for her official visit weekend and were just a perfect fit with our team. In addition to LCA, Jasmine played (club basketball) for Dave Hammer of the Salt Lake City Metro. It will be an added bonus that we will have a lot of family and friends wearing Red and Black in the stands at some of our critical MWC road games."
As a junior, the 6-3 forward averaged 19.7 points per game, highlighted by a 37-point effort, and was the state's fourth-leading scorer. Tabbed "Utah's best high school girls' basketball player" by the Salt Lake Tribune, Porter was an all-state choice and a first-team all-area honoree in 2008-09, setting the Utah single-season record for blocked shots (169).
"Jasmine is a hard-working player, who takes the game seriously," said Fernandi, who is in her first year with the Eagles. "She will be one of the leaders of our team and will make the other players around her better."
The last three years, Porter has competed during the summer with the Salt Lake Metro club basketball team.
"Jasmine is a very versatile athlete who can play multiple positions," Hammer said. "We expect great things from Jasmine as she continues her career as an Aztec and playing for coach Burns. Her best basketball is ahead of her."
Porter also participates in volleyball at Layton Christian Academy, where she led the team to the school's first-ever state title last month and was named tournament MVP with 17 kills, 10 digs and 10 blocks in the championship match. A member of the Eagles' track team, Porter is a two-time invitee to the adidas Superstar Elite basketball camp.
"Everyone was amazing when I went on my visit," Porter said. "It was a family atmosphere and I loved the campus, because it was close-knit. I liked the fact that coaching staff was not going to sugar-coat anything and the players were people who I can see playing with."
Ranked 70th nationally and 20th overall among shooting guard recruits, Melissa Sweat played three seasons at Stockdale High School in Bakersfield, Calif., before transferring to Liberty High School in Madera, Calif., for her senior campaign under coach Rebecca Sligh-Harp.
"Melissa is a big-time combo guard - she was the No. 1 guard prospect in our sights from the beginning of the recruiting process," Burns said. "She has a silky smooth game, a big strong body, and as a lefty, can score in multiple ways. She played in a great club program (Cal Storm Team Taurasi) and competed and flourished against the best age-group national competition. Melissa has the tools to become a major impact player for the Aztecs."
At Stockdale High, the 5-10 guard was a three-year starter, garnered all-state honors and was a two-time Bakersfield Californian Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Sweat led the Mustangs to the 2009 CIF Central Section Division I title by scoring 24 points and pulling down 12 rebounds in the win over top-seeded Clovis West High School. Her sophomore campaign, she led the city with 17.1 points per game and also chipped in seven rebounds and nearly four steals an outing.
"Melissa brings a level of excitement, not only with her athletic ability and skill, but with her true love for the game," Sligh-Harp said. "She's a good role model for other girls at our school, who want to keep up with her both academically and athletically. She has a great smile and makes everyone feel important. I'm excited for the upcoming season, because she's going to take this community by storm and really show what a girl can do (on the basketball court)."
The last two years, Sweat has played for the highly-competitive, Los Angeles-based club basketball team, Cal Storm Team Taurasi, under coach George Quintero.
Originally from Alaska, her father, Michael Johnson, was an All-American at Alaska-Anchorage in the late 1980s, helping the Seawolves to the NCAA Division II national championship game in 1987-88, and an upset of No. 2 Michigan at the Utah Classic in 1988.
"(SDSU) is where I felt most comfortable and where I felt they wanted me the most," Sweat said. "I liked coach Burns, because I know that she will push me to be the best, and my (future) teammates were all very straight-forward."
Besides Porter and Sweat, SDSU will also add 6-0 guard Courtney Clements and 6-6 center Malia Nahinu to the mix for next season after the two Arizona transfers sit out this year due to NCAA guidelines.
"Melissa and Jasmine are both coming to SDSU to get a quality education and to continue to elevate our Aztec Basketball program to new heights," Burns added. "Joining redshirts Courtney Clements and Malia Nahinu next fall, we are confident we all will be able to do just that."
San Diego State officially kicks off the 2009-10 season this Friday when the Aztecs travel to UC Irvine for a 5 p.m. tip-off at the Bren Events Center.
2009-10 Aztec Basketball Signees
Jasmine Porter, Forward, 6-3, Layton, Utah (Layton Christian Academy HS)
Melissa Sweat, Guard, 5-10, Bakersfield, Calif. (Liberty HS (Madera, Calif.))
Courtney Clements*, Guard, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif. (Millikan HS/Arizona)
Malia Nahinu*, Center, 6-6, Hayward, Calif. (Moreau Catholic HS/Arizona)
* = signed with the Aztecs in May 2009