Last week, former Northwood star Olivia Porter — who helped the Chargers’ girls basketball team win the school’s first-ever state championship in 2022 — announced her commitment to Charlotte for the 2023-24 season.
Porter entered the transfer portal after her freshman year at Michigan State, where she played in six games and scored two total points over the course of the season. She will have three years of eligibility remaining with the 49ers, who put together a 12-19 campaign during the 2022-23 season.
"Olivia is an exciting addition to our program and we are thrilled to welcome her to our family," Charlotte head coach Cara Consuegra said in a statement. "The first thing that stands out about Olivia is she is a winner. She won a North Carolina state championship and has played at the highest level. She is also very competitive and motivated to keep growing as a player and a student. On the court, Olivia will impact our guard position by being another great ball-handler and playmaker. She has the ability to score at all three levels and her composure and confidence will be contagious amongst our team."
During her senior season in 2021-22, Porter averaged 18.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 4.3 steals per game. She helped lead the Chargers to a 30-1 overall record, which was capped off by a 70-42 win over Enka in the 3A state finals.
In the championship game, Porter totaled 18 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. She was named the 2022 NCHSAA 3A Kay Yow State Championship Most Valuable Player for her efforts.
The 2021-22 season was Porter’s first with the Northwood girls basketball team. Before that, she attended Auburn High in Alabama, where she was a second-team all-state selection twice as a sophomore and junior.
“She really fit in well. She just has that I-won’t-give-up mentality and is really determined. She never settles,” Northwood head coach Kerri Snipes told the News + Record last offseason. “She was always a competitor in practice and certainly in games, as everyone else could see, but she was also a great leader in the sense of bringing her teammates up. She always tried to push them and build confidence in them, cheering them on in practice when nobody’s watching. … She just has that grit and tenacity that a lot of athletes don’t have, but is just so humble and so caring and loving of everyone else.”
Porter comes from a family of athletes. Her father, Larry Porter, is the current special teams coordinator/running backs coach for the UNC football team, and he has twice won the accolade of national recruiter of the year. He also played college football at Memphis from 1990-93.
Her older brother, Omari, is a rising senior safety on the Stanford football team. He played in six games last season primarily as a special teams player, though he earned his first career interception in a 27-20 loss to California on Nov. 19.
Charlotte’s current roster lists five guards, Aylesha Wade, Tamia Davis, Nia Young, Dazia Lawrence and Jacee Busick. Lawrence led the team last season with 16.9 points per game while shooting 43.9% from the field and 36% from the 3-point line.
The 49ers have seven winning seasons since Consuegra took over in 2011-12. They last appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2022, when they lost to Indiana in the first round as a No. 14 seed.