COLUMBIA, Mo. _ Missouri freshman phenom Michael Porter Jr. will not play in Saturday's regular-season finale against Arkansas.
Tigers coach Cuonzo Martin had said on 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 uniform.
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.
