Michael Porter Jr. was always a sure thing. Blessed with the height of a center (6’10), the slashing ability of a wing, and the touch of a guard, Porter entered college basketball looking like the prototype for the modern NBA combo forward at just 19 years old.
Michael Porter Jr.‘s back injury means college basketball will be missing a superstar this season
The Missouri star will likely miss the entire 2017-2018 season after undergoing back surgery.
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Missouri fans saw Porter as a savior who could finally get the program back to the NCAA tournament. NBA fans saw him as a potential No. 1 overall draft pick. Now everyone will have to wait to see him in earnest — Porter is likely to miss the entire season as he recovers from back surgery.
Porter will be back, but this was likely our only chance to see him at the collegiate level. Here’s what basketball fans are missing in his absence.
A skilled scorer who can get buckets from all three levels
The biggest strength of Porter’s game is his scoring versatility. He’s able to attack the rim on drives or step away from the basket and hit a jump shot in a way few players his size are able to do.
Porter has posted gaudy scoring totals against every form of competition.
- As a senior, Porter averaged 37 points and 15 rebounds per game while leading Nathan Hale High School to an undefeated state championship in Washington under head coach Brandon Roy.
- He finished as the second leading scorer on Nike’s EYBL circuit by averaging over 22 points per game.
- He led Team USA in scoring and finished third in the field overall by averaging 15.8 points per game at the 2016 FIBA Americas U18 tournament.
Remember the ridiculous numbers Michael Beasley once put up for Kansas State? Or the crazy stats Kevin Durant posted at Texas? Porter could have had a similar performance at Mizzou as a freshman.
An elite athlete who would have given us so many great highlights
Porter was only a high school sophomore the first time he made SportsCenter. This dunk in 2014 started the hype train on Porter as one of the best prospects in the country.
Porter would have spent his entire freshman season at Mizzou as a SportsCenter staple. Despite his thin frame and high center of gravity, Porter is an explosive leaper who can finish effortlessly above the rim.
Here’s the kind of stuff he was doing during his short time with the Tigers:
College basketball needs all the stars it can get, and Porter would have been one. That’s why we had him as the No. 2 player in the sport before he ever played a game.
Porter will still be a top-five NBA draft pick if he wants to be
The 2018 NBA Draft is loaded, and Porter was a big reason why. He was expected to compete with Arizona’s DeAndre Ayton, Duke’s Marvin Bagley, Texas’ Mohamed Bamba, and Slovenian prospect Luka Doncic to be the No. 1 overall pick in June’s draft.
Porter is talented enough to still be a high lottery pick even without any college game tape. NBA scouts have seen him at the McDonald’s All-American Game and Nike Hoop Summit. He is no mystery to the evaluators who have been tracking him closely for years.
It’s worth noting that Porter said before the season he would consider coming back to Mizzou for a second season if things didn’t go the way he wanted this year. Porter’s father is an assistant coach for the Tigers, and his younger brother Jontay is also a forward on the team. It’s clear Porter has a special affinity for Mizzou.
That makes this injury even harder to swallow. Porter will be back, but college fans are missing out on watching one of the most dynamic players in the country this season.
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