Michael Porter Jr.'s status for Arkansas game will depend on next two practices

Michael Porter Jr. is another step closer to a possible return.

Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said the 6-foot-10 freshman phenom will practice on Thursday and Friday and will be a game-time decision for the Tigers regular-season finale against Arkansas on Saturday.

"It really comes down to how Mike feels," Martin said. "We'll go from there."

Porter was cleared to return to all basketball activities Feb. 22 and didn’t play in either of the Missouri’s last two games despite appearing in warmups. The Tigers lost at Kentucky on Saturday and beat Vanderbilt on the road Tuesday to further solidify the team’s case for an NCAA Tournament berth.

He played two minutes in Missouri’s season-opening win over Iowa State and scored off a putback layup before asking to come out. Porter had back surgery days later and has hinted at a possible comeback since late November.

Porter was considered a potential No. 1 pick in June’s NBA Draft before the start of the season but has fallen out of the top five in most draft projections. NBA executives recently told ESPN that it would be in Porter’s best interest to play if he’s healthy enough.

Martin has said Porter might be lacking in conditioning compared to the rest of the team but added his star player knows “he won’t be the same guy” when he plays, because it will take a while to kick the rust off.

This story was originally published March 1, 2018 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Michael Porter Jr.'s status for Arkansas game will depend on next two practices."