COLUMBIA, Mo. _ Michael Porter Jr. is coming home
Home as in Columbia, Mo.
Home as in the University of Missouri.
Home as in Mizzou Arena, the place where he endlessly dribbled a basketball and took countless shots as his legend grew in Boone County, from a 6-foot-4 junior high wunderkind to a 6-9 NBA lottery pick-in-waiting.
After the worst three-year stretch in the history of Missouri Tigers basketball, the No. 1 high school player in the country has committed to join a program in desperate need of impact players to reignite the fan base. Cuonzo Martin's team is getting the best one available in the 2017 recruiting class, a player so widely vaunted for his unique blend of size and talent some believe Porter would be the first selection in this summer's NBA draft if he were eligible.
Instead, the small forward will spend at least one college season in a Mizzou uniform. The McDonald's All-American and multiple winner of national player of the year awards made the decision public Friday with a tweet, a photo featuring Porter in a Mizzou uniform with the words: "I'M COMING HOME" in the background. He can sign a letter of intent starting April 12.
He followed up with the following message posted on Twitter:
"Last week everything changed for me regarding my college basketball decision. Realizing I would no longer have the opportunity to play for Coach Romar, I've taken the past seven days to give great consideration to my future. After a lot of thought, prayer, and talking with my family, I'm excited to announce that next year I will be attending the University of Missouri! I am looking forward to the year ahead with Coach Cuonz and my new teammates. Together we hope to store the atmosphere at Mizzou Arena.
"MIZZOU NATION I'M COMING HOME!!!"
On Thursday, Michael Porter Sr., the player's father, told the Post-Dispatch he had agreed in principle to join Martin's MU staff as an assistant coach. A day later, the next Porter domino fell in Mizzou's favor. It will be the first time Mizzou has signed the nation's top-ranked player in the modern age of recruiting rankings.
Porter moved from Indiana to Columbia with his family in 2010 when his father took a position on the Mizzou women's basketball staff under coach Robin Pingeton, his sister-in-law. By the time Porter Jr. enrolled at Columbia's Father Tolton High School, he'd already started to generate a national buzz on the summer traveling circuit as one of the premier college prospects for the 2017 class. Last year, Porter and his younger brother Jontay led Tolton to the Class 3 state championship. In the summer, they moved to Seattle with their parents when Porter Sr. became an assistant with the University of Washington men's program under coach Lorenzo Romar, a close family friend and Porter's godfather.
Last May, Porter trimmed his college choices to five schools: Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Virginia and Washington. In the fall, to no surprise, Porter picked Washington and signed a national letter of intent to play for Romar's Huskies.
The Porter children were homeschooled while Michael and Jontay, a 2018 Washington commitment, played for Nathan Hale High School, coached by former UW and NBA star Brandon Roy. Earlier this month, the Porters led Nathan Hale to a Class 3 state championship in Washington with a 29-0 season.
As the Porters thrived in Seattle, their future college team cratered in Romar's 15th season. Despite an All-Pac 12 campaign from freshman phenom Markelle Fultz, the Huskies lost their final 13 games and finished just 9-22.
For newly hired Martin and Mizzou fans starved for a return to relevant basketball, the timing could not have been better.
Two days after Missouri hired Martin to replace Kim Anderson, Washington fired Romar and his staff, even though the move would likely cost the school the Porter brothers.
Almost immediately, Jontay announced he would consider other schools. After the Huskies hired Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins to replace Romar, Michael requested UW release him from his letter of intent.
During the recruiting process, the thought of playing at Mizzou always appealed to Porter, even as the program was buried in the Southeastern Conference on Anderson's watch.
"Kentucky and Duke and Kansas, those are the schools where I feel like I can go and definitely get prepared for the NBA after one or two years," he told the Post-Dispatch last year. "Mizzou, it's a school where I think I can go and be remembered forever."
"Look how young they are, all freshmen and sophomores," he said about Mizzou's team. "They have a lot of potential I think. I think they're going to get there. I'm not looking at that program and saying, 'Man, they're trash. I'd never go there.' I'm looking at it like it's a growing program and I'd have a chance to do something great there if I wanted to."
In his only season in Seattle, Porter led Nathan Hale to the No. 1 ranking in USA Today's Super 25 and averaged 36.2 points, 13.6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3.2 steals and 2.7 blocks per game. He's the third player with roots in the state of Missouri to win the Gatorade Player of the Year award since 2011, following St. Louis natives and former Chaminade stars Bradley Beal and Jayson Tatum, the winners in 2011 and 2016. Each of the previous six winners played only the one required year of college basketball before entering the NBA draft: Florida's Beal, Duke's Jabari Parker, Kansas' Andrew Wiggins, Kentucky's Karl-Anthony Towns, Louisiana State's Ben Simmons and Duke's Tatum, who announced March 22 that he'll enter this summer's draft. The NBA established the current draft eligibility rules with the 2005 collective bargaining agreement effective since the 2006 draft, requiring draft entrants to be one year removed from the graduation of its high school class.
Porter will come to Missouri as arguably the most celebrated freshman in the program's history _ or at least since Steve Stipanovich came from De Smet High School to join Norm Stewart's Tigers in 1979. Other highly-rated prospects have since arrived with considerable fanfare _ Derrick Chievous in 1984, Anthony Peeler in 1988, Travon Bryant in 2000, Linas Kleiza in 2003 _ but not with the same accolades and expectations that follow Porter back home.
