Will Michael Porter Jr. soon be back for Mizzou? Report says he's cleared to practice

Will Michael Porter Jr. play again for Missouri this season? We may soon know the answer.

Porter has been fully cleared to resume all basketball activities, Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports reported Thursday, citing an anonymous source. ESPN's Jeff Goodman later reported Porter was cleared for full contact.

There was no official announcement from the Mizzou basketball team regarding Porter, the Tigers' freshman phenom who has missed almost all of the regular season following back surgery.

Porter met with his surgeon in Dallas on Thursday and Tigers coach Cuonzo Martin was expected to address reporters Friday before the team leaves for Kentucky. The Tigers face the Wildcats on Saturday night.

While Porter may be cleared to return to practice, that doesn’t mean he will.

Martin was reticent two weeks ago when asked whether there was a date he would need Porter to be ready by in order to have him play. “What’s best is not always ideal for everybody,” Martin said. “I’ll make that decision. We’ll make that decision and decide what’s best whenever that time presents itself, whatever that is.”

The Tigers are down to just nine healthy players after junior point guard Terrence Phillips was removed from the roster as of Tuesday. He is part of an ongoing campus Title IX investigation. The program has also lost freshmen guards C.J. Roberts and Blake Harris to transfer.

Mizzou has been projected as a NCAA Tournament team most of the season despite Porter’s absence, but the Tigers have dropped their last two games. Their two remaining regular-season games after Saturday are at Vanderbilt on Tuesday and against Arkansas on March 2.

This story was originally published February 22, 2018 at 4:58 PM with the headline "Will Michael Porter Jr. soon be back for Mizzou? Report says he's cleared to practice."