One of the more unfortunate developments that has occurred during the 2017-18 college basketball season has been the complete lack of Michael Porter Jr. Expected to be one of the best freshmen in the nation and a potential top-three 2018 NBA Draft pick, Porter played two minutes in the team’s season opener and hasn’t played since. It was eventually revealed that he needed surgery that was expected to keep him out all year.
But in an interesting twist, it appears that there’s a chance that Porter will get the chance to play this season. There’s no indication of how good of a chance he has to take the floor, but Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin opened the window for a possible return.
The Tigers took down Ole Miss on Tuesday night, 75-69. After the game, Martin spoke with the media and said he “wouldn’t be shocked” if his star forward played this season.
“This week he started working out, not on the floor but doing different things with our strength and conditioning coach, Nicodemus,” Martin told the SEC Network, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Agility work, bouncing the ball, but nothing with practice. I wouldn’t be shocked if I saw him on the floor. I’m not saying that … because he hasn’t practiced or anything, so don’t misinterpret that. But I wouldn’t be shocked. I know he’s fighting hard to get on the floor. He’s looking good. His body’s great. He’s actually gotten bigger just looking at him. He’s one of our best cheerleaders on the sideline.”
Missouri is 16-8 on the season, Joe Lunardi has them as a 10-seed in his latest Bracketology, and KenPom has them as the 33rd-best team in the country. The Tigers are a solid basketball team and don’t necessarily need Porter back if it requires him to come back onto the floor before he’s ready, so they’re not in a position where he has to be rushed back. The team has seven more regular-season games before the SEC Tournament and, possibly, the NCAA Tournament.
The good news is that Martin is making it sound like, if he is able to start practicing with the team and get into shape, Porter is getting close to being at a place where he can contribute. Beyond the fact that it would help the team and could help his NBA prospects, it would just be really great to see him healthy and back out on the floor.
