26 years ago, The WNBA was founded. Since then, the impact of women’s basketball has continued to grow. Janelle Porter found herself contributing to the game on and off the court since 4. By the time 6th grade came around, she fell in love with the game after witnessing her first college game. The player that inspired Porter’s passion for the game would be none other than 2x NCAA champion, 4x WNBA champion, and social justice activist, Maya Moore. “I watched Maya Moore score a bucket, then turn around and steal the ball back at half court, pulled up for 3, and made the other coach call a TO,” Janelle explains. “Talk about Fired Up!” At Long Beach Wilson High School, Porter played for four years on the basketball varsity team. Janelle would score All-Moore League Memorable Mention (2011), Second Team All-Moore League twice, First Team All-Moore League, and Best Offensive Player of the Year during her tenure at Long Beach Wilson High School.

Janelle began her college career at California Lutheran as she wanted to be close to home.  During her time at California Lutheran, Porter exceeded her expectations as she appeared in 67 games including all 25 in her senior year. Porter exceeded successfully in her senior year as she led the team in both free throws made and steals. Janelle averaged over 10 ppg (points per game) while shooting 41.1% beyond the arc and 51.4% in the field goal. Porter’s senior campaign led her to earn Second Team All-SCIAC and SCIAC Athlete of the Week. Overall, Janelle’s collegiate career statistics tallied 984 minutes, 402 points, 136 rebounds, 99 assists, 70 steals, and 19 blocks.  

As a student-athlete, Janelle did not play around when it came to academics as she explained the two components that helped her get through the academic aspect. “Time management and preparation are so important,” Porter states.  “I made a routine and stuck to it.” One thing for sure that Janelle made clear is that academics comes before athletics. "If I didn’t have the grades, I wasn’t going to play,” states Porter. As a communication major with an emphasis on both film and TV, Janelle sees the communication degree to apply to sports as it helped her approach different people, inspired her to be a great listener as well as become a very observant person! “Film and TV always remind me that there’s more than one perspective of a story or situation,” Janelle details. 

Women’s basketball continues to grow each year as Porter describes the future of the sport as here. “The future is female and is HERE! We are the future of the sport.” From working with the kids, Janelle describes that she can share her passion for the sport with them and teach them how to utilize it in their everyday lives. Porter continues to be involved in the sport as she was an assistant coach at Whittier College for years and played professionally overseas for a year in Europe. “ It was a huge moment for me coming from a division 3 college,” Janelle describes. When it comes to sports, we all have that person that we look up to for inspiration. Janelle’s inspirations happen to be two of the greatest athletes and champions in the game both on and off the court: Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry and Minnesota Lynx’s Maya Moore. Since family is important to Porter, she admires how Curry has shown that family is important as it is often displayed both on and off the court. When it comes to Maya Moore, Janelle credits her for being an inspirational individual. “She (Maya Moore) is arguably the best women's basketball player but decided to use her knowledge, fame, and power to save someone else’s life,” Porter states. “It’s bigger than basketball!” 

We’re often asked, “why did we choose to play the sport?” or “why did you start in the first place?” Janelle explains the importance of identifying your “Why” in your passion as she advises the next generation of athletes that want to pursue the sport to the next level. “Find the thing that wakes you up every morning that makes you go so hard,” Porter states. “You’ll have to understand that this is a process and practice taking constructive criticism so you can use it to grow as well. Don’t compare your results or shortcomings with anyone else!” Janelle reminds the future generation of athletes to take care of themselves in all aspects (physically and mentally) and to be held accountable to achieve the bigger things in life.

Representation matters! These are the two words that describe Janelle’s story. Janelle exemplifies that she is more than just an athlete as she is also a professional sports model.  Porter described how one quote would soon inspire so many people and it led her to many more doors to be opened. "While becoming a professional athlete, I accidentally became a sports model. One of my friends recommended me for a Nike campaign that aired on the Jumbo Tron right in front of Staples Center.” “During that shoot, each model got to write a quote that they felt related to them. So I wrote “Representation Matters!,” Porter states. Janelle’s quote would end up being used on Billboard as it reached out to many people near and far. “From there, I took that opportunity to bring sports modeling seriously and became a professional sports model with Naturally Fit Agency in 2019.” Currently, Janelle is an assistant coach at Saint Mary’s Academy in Inglewood. 

To learn more about Janelle and her story, be sure to follow her on Instagram: jaaaypeezy