Duquesne Women’s Hoops Hires Pgh Native as New Assistant Coach

Duquesne women’s basketball coach Dan Burt has added to his coaching staff with the hiring of a Pittsburgh native.

Duquesne has announced the hiring of Michaela Porter as a new women’s basketball assistant coach. Porter was born in Pittsburgh and played basketball at Obama Academy, where she had a standout career.

Porter averaged 15.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, 4.2 steals, 3.2 assists and was named the 2016 Pittsburgh City League Player of the Year. While at Obama Academy, Porter won four City League Championships and was inducted into the Pittsburgh City League Junior Hall of Fame.

After high school, Porter continued her basketball career playing at both Cincinnati and Appalachian State. In 3 seasons with Appalachian State, Porter averaged 8.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, appearing in 83 games and making 53 starts.

After graduating in 2021, she played internationally in Portugal, Iceland, Finland, Mongolia and Mexico before deciding to get into coaching.

“Michaela is someone I’ve known for a long time from her youth basketball days thru her days as a professional player,” said Burt. “We expect Michaela to mentor our young women on the court with her proven playing abilities at both the guard and post positions. Her knowledge of the game is strong, and her teaching style has the admiration of our players in short time. Michaela will be sharing her wisdom about playing professional basketball and what it takes to play at the next level along with recruiting and youth basketball outreach.”

“I am ecstatic about joining such a successful and well-respected program,” said Porter. “Coach Burt and I have known each other for a very long time, and I cannot thank him enough for providing me with the opportunity to expand this part of my career and grow as a coach. My transition has been great so far and I look forward to continuing to learn, grow, and spread my knowledge to the girls.

“Duquesne has always been home for me so to be able to step into this new chapter of my life where it all started is an absolute blessing.”