COLUMBIA, Mo. _ Meeting with reporters for the first time since undergoing back surgery in November, Missouri preseason All-American freshman basketball player Michael Porter Jr. urged caution Tuesday about his return to the court.
Porter, who hasn't played since the opening minutes of Mizzou's Nov. 10 opener, said he first suffered his back injury during a summer practice with his AAU team MO-KAN Elite two years ago. He called it "a trauma incident."
"I went up for a dunk and got hit really high in the air," he said. "I came flat down on my back. That's when I hurt it."
Porter said the injury "progressed" in the weeks leading up to MU's first regular-season game against Iowa State. Before that game, Porter played in three preseason exhibition games against Kansas, Wisconsin and Missouri State, but it was shortly before tipoff Nov. 10 when Porter told Tigers coach Cuonzo Martin he was in too much pain to play. Martin took Porter out in the game's third minute.
"My parents got multiple opinions and they kind of decided surgery was the best (option)," Porter said. "It's a good thing I did it. I feel a lot better now."
Martin said Tuesday he wasn't familiar with the extent of Porter's initial injury until the freshman got to campus this summer.
"It was not as if it was something I read about or anything like that," Martin said. "To his credit he practiced and played and didn't complain about it and did normal rehab."
"Really, the time when we played Iowa State, it was like, OK," Martin added. "But going through the game you really didn't know. Then it was, OK, here we are. It's an issue. Let's move forward.
"But it wasn't an issue during recruiting because I really didn't recruit him out of high school to be able to study and understand it. So, not much."
On Nov. 22, Porter underwent a procedure called a microdiscectomy of the L3-L4 spinal discs, performed by Dallas spinal surgeon Andrew Dossett. At the time, the team announced Porter would face a recovery time of three to four months and likely miss the rest of the season. Porter said he's unsure when he'll be able to return to the court.
"Rehab is going great," he said. "I'm getting stronger every day. Right now it's too early to tell. This is the type of injury where I'll feel good before I'm allowed to play because a lot of healing starts to occur."
Porter is scheduled to visit Dallas on Thursday for a follow-up visit with Dossett. The Tigers (10-3) leave Columbia on Tuesday for Wednesday's SEC opener at South Carolina.
"Everybody's different with this injury, their recovery time," Porter said. "So I'm doing everything I can to recover as quick as I can. I'll feel 100 percent before my back really is 100 percent. Eventually I'll be 150 percent because I'll be playing without the pain and limitations I had before."
Porter said he planned to play through his back pain this season, like he has the past two years in high school in Columbia and Seattle, and manage the condition after his freshman year.
"I've had that pain and just played through it," he said. "I kind of forgot what it's like to play normal. That's why I feel I'm blessed to have had the surgery because I feel like I'll be far better than I was playing without those limitations. I kind of expected it to be the same, just playing through the pain. But then it got worse to where I couldn't play anymore. I didn't feel like I'd be helpful to the team in the state I was in."
As part of his rehab, Porter is currently running on a treadmill and has started some light shooting, though he's limited in how high he can jump.
After watching a few home games from the team locker room, Porter was back on the bench for MU's last several games, including the team's Dec. 23 loss to Illinois in the Braggin' Rights Game.
"It was tough early on because part of my physical therapy I'm not supposed to be sitting for long periods of time," Porter said. "That's why I wasn't on the bench for those few games, even though I really wanted to be. So that was tough. Being able to be at practice and sit now, I'm just trying to be a good teammate. It gets tough sometimes because you just want to be out there so bad and help the team. But I can still help in other ways."
Porter believes he might have avoided surgery had he not rushed into playing after the fall that caused the back injury.
"It (stinks) because two years ago when it happened, knowing me, I rushed back into playing as soon as I could," he said. "That's when my body started compensating for the pain. If I would have sat out when this initially happened there's a chance all of this could have been avoidable. But we had a big tournament that weekend and I just wanted to play."
Porter, the preseason co-SEC player of the year, has since watched several close friends at other schools put together dazzling freshman seasons, especially Oklahoma guard Trae Young and Duke forward Marvin Bagley. Both are early candidates for national player of the year.
"To see them succeed it's awesome," Porter said. "At the same time I know I could be doing the same exact things they're doing. It's tough. I just have to be patient. My time is coming. I just can't rush it."
As for this summer's NBA draft, Porter said he's not worried about how his injury might impact his stock as a prospect.
"I know when I'm healthy people will see what I'm capable of and it will all take care of itself," he said. "It's something I don't stress about it. Even if I get drafted fifth or sixth, it's what I do in the NBA that determines my legacy. I'm still going to become the best player I'm going to become."
Like he did several times before the season tipped off, Porter left open the possibility of returning to Mizzou for his sophomore year, though he and freshman Jeremiah Tilmon had to contain snickers while Porter discussed the topic Tuesday.
"Of course, there's a chance," Porter said. "That hasn't changed at all. I really don't know yet. I haven't thought about that really."
