Photography by Steve Buchanan
It’s nice to be a wanted athlete. Blossoming basketball player Amourie Porter had some enticing options when it came to where she would play in high school. Four private schools recruited Porter, a combo guard, leading up to her freshman year in 2019, according to her father Sam.
Two of them were St. Vincent Pallotti in Laurel and Baltimore City’s Saint Frances Academy, which perennially ranks among the area’s best teams. Amourie appealed to the schools because of her high level of play for AAU’s Maryland Lady Shooting Stars.
Sam asked her, “Where do you want to play in high school?” She said, “Glen Burnie.” Sam is in his second year as Glen Burnie’s girls basketball head coach.
Porter, now a senior, explains her quick response to her father’s question by saying, “I told him I want to help build the program up and improve its reputation.”
At that point, the reputation couldn’t have been much worse. The Gophers won only one game in 2019. It took a few years, but Porter and her father helped to revive Glen Burnie. She led the Gophers to their best season in school history in 2022, as the team went 22-1 and advanced to the state semifinals for the first time since 1983.
The team’s rise began during Porter’s freshman season when she started playing well right out of the gates. The team went 12-8 that season, and she averaged 17.9 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game.
“We had done some major things the school had never accomplished before,” Sam explains. “In years past, we have had 30 girls trying out for basketball. This year, we had 46. That’s a big plus.”
Porter gets as much credit as anybody for the team’s resurgence by pushing for a culture change. “She is a builder,” Sam says. “When she sees anything wrong, she wants to fix it and contribute to success”
The 5-foot-10 Porter ranked first in scoring (19.1), rebounds (10.2), and steals (4.4) to earn County Player of the Year and Baltimore Sun First-Team All-Metro honors in 2022. She has been rewarded for her success at Glen Burnie and on the AAU circuit, and will attend California State Bakersfield University on a basketball scholarship. She plans to major in kinesiology. Porter also received strong interest from Georgetown University.
“I chose California State Bakersfield because the coach (Greg McCall) was very committed to me,” says Porter, who carries a 3.9 grade-point average. “He kept in contact with me throughout the entire recruiting process. I really like how he wants his program to be very successful. I also loved the school and the atmosphere there.”
Porter’s time on the AAU circuit will prepare her well for college basketball. The Shooting Stars competed in high-profile tournaments up and down the east coast, and in Kentucky, Alabama, and as far away as Texas. Many opponents featured Division I recruits and Porter’s team featured a few, too.
“We played the best AAU teams,” Sam says. “And she got a chance to showcase her skills.” Porter adds, “I have played since seventh grade. The girls are the best out there. The level of play is just amazing.”
You could describe Porter’s career at Glen Burnie similarly. She would take over in games. She scored 34 points in December of 2021 as the Gophers beat Meade for the first time in a decade. Porter even elevated her play in the postseason, averaging 25 points per game during the championship run.
“She can do things at all three levels,” California State Bakersfield Women’s Basketball Coach Greg McCall says. “Get to the basket, shoot in the mid-range area, and hit the three-ball as well.”
Porter has accomplished a lot at Glen Burnie, but she set a lofty goal before this season—win a Class 4A state championship. The Gophers were two wins away from doing so last year. “I want to wear that ring around the school,” she says. “We need to finish things off and not stop until we are done.”
McCall likes Porter’s attitude and ambition. “She went there and made that high school team,” he says. “She is going to have her name etched in stone there forever.”
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