Michael Porter Jr.'s return is still on hold. SEC Tournament is next target, he says
After appearing frustrated at Michael Porter Jr.'s absence after Tuesday's loss at Vanderbilt, Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin was optimistic about his star player's return for next week's SEC Tournament.
"I think so, " Martin said about a possible return in St. Louis.
Porter did not play on Saturday after releasing a statement earlier in the day. Missouri beat Arkansas 77-67 to improve to 20-11 and all but secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Martin said Thursday that the decision to play would be Porter’s, if he felt good enough after getting a few more practices under his belt. Instead, Porter announced his decision Saturday morning, hours before the 5 p.m. tipoff at Mizzou Arena.
"After two more practices since coming home from Nashville, the coaching staff and I feel that it is in the best interest of the team and myself to not play tonight,” Porter said in a statement released by the Mizzou basketball team.
"Coming back from three months without practicing has been a challenge, but it is a challenge that I am taking on every day. The plan is to keep working, with an eye on potentially playing at the SEC Tournament and helping our squad be successful in the postseason.”
Porter was cleared for all basketball activities more than a week ago and was visibly present with the team throughout warmups in its recent road games at Kentucky and Vanderbilt.
But when the team jogged out of the tunnel each time, the 6-foot-10 freshman emerged in street clothes instead of his uniform.
Porter's younger brother, Jontay, had another strong game on Saturday, finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists to propel the team in the win.
Jontay Porter said his brother is prepared to play any role needed for a team that is down to seven available players after junior Cullen VanLeer suffered an ACL injury in Saturday's game and added that his brother has looked good in practice.
“He doesn’t want to come in and shoot 40 shots and take over the offense," Jontay Porter said. "The nature of Michael is he’s a scorer. Throughout the season if he were to play his minutes would go up and up depending upon what we need.”
Porter hinted of a possible return in next week’s SEC Tournament in St. Louis. The result of Missouri’s game against Arkansas will finalize its seeding in the conference tournament.
NBA executives recently told ESPN that it would be in Porter’s best interest to play because he’s fallen out of the top five in most draft projections after being pegged as the No. 1 overall pick in the preseason.
Martin said if Porter Jr. were to return, there would be no set minutes for him since it's the postseason and the team barely has any depth. He added that whenever Porter Jr. plays, he'll play "until he's exhausted" or when he needs a break.
"There’s no minimums," Martin said. "We’re playing him. We’re trying to win games.”
This story was originally published March 3, 2018 at 9:43 AM with the headline "Michael Porter Jr.'s return is still on hold. SEC Tournament is next target, he says."