Mizzou Basketball: Michael Porter Jr feels good about return this season
Mizzou basketball fans received great news on Friday when freshman sensation Michael Porter Jr. revealed that he likes his chances of playing this season for the Tigers.
Well, Missouri fans, the bad luck might finally be over… At least with the Michael Porter Jr. injury, that is. The Tigers landed the freshman after he de-committed from Washington last spring and followed his father back to their hometown of Columbia.
Porter played just two minutes of regular season action before injuring his back and missing the rest of the season to this point. Somehow, Missouri has stayed afloat even without Porter and some other drama that has risen throughout the season. The Tigers are currently 16-8 with a 6-5 conference record (this being before their home game against Mississippi State on Saturday).
Porter told the media Friday that he feels optimistic about his chances of being cleared to practice soon. The quote below is courtesy of Alex Schiffer of The Kansas City Star.
"“To me with how I feel right now, I think there is a good chance,” Porter said about whether he will play again this season. “I think the doctor is going to be amazed at my progress.”"
Michael Porter Jr. said at a press conference today that he's hoping to get cleared to practice next week.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) February 9, 2018
"If it were up to me, I would love to get a couple games under my belt before hopping into tournament play," he said.
“If I’m ready to go, then I’m ready to go.”
Obviously this is exciting news for Tiger fans, but there’s also reason to be cautious about it. Porter still has to be cleared to practice, meaning that he likely wouldn’t play right off the bat. It’d be smart of Missouri to slowly work MPJ back so that if the Tigers do make the tournament, he could be fully prepared by that point.
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There’s still a chance that Porter wouldn’t be cleared either and if he were, who is to say that he’d for sure play? Here’s a kid that has a really good chance of being a top five pick without having played an entire game this season. Is it worth risking re-injuring himself?
While Porter will likely still head to the NBA after this season (as he should), I think playing for Mizzou this season is something he truly wants to do. This would be one of the only chances he’d get to play with his brother (Jontay Porter) and to play for his dad and hometown team.
As I mentioned before, Mizzou basketball has stayed very much in the thick of things despite not having their star freshman on hand. Just a few weeks ago, it looked like Missouri was dead in the water when it came to making the tournament, but Jontay Porter and Jeremiah Tilmon have both been playing extremely well, and that’s been a huge difference maker.
With Michael Porter Jr. on board, the Missouri Tigers could be a team who could win a few games in March. There won’t be any rush to get Porter back on the court, but hearing the news that he could return is exciting news for MU fans.