Michael Porter Jr, the Missouri Tigers' freshman forward who is projected to be a top pick in the 2018 NBA draft, will return to action tomorrow in the SEC Tournament. Porter has not played since the first game of the season when he went down with a back injury just two minutes into his debut against Iowa State.
He underwent back surgery shortly after the season opener and was expected to miss the remainder of the season as he recovered from a microdiscectomy of the L3-L4 spinal discs, according to ESPN. Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin now says the star freshman could play as many as 25 minutes tomorrow night.
"He could play 20-25 minutes," Martin said, per ESPN. "It's really how I feel, the flow of the game, and how he feels. I don't have it in my head to say, 'He's play this many minutes and that's it.' ... But I'd be surprised if he played 30 minutes."
"If he's healthy, we're rolling," Martin added. "Unless the trainer or Mike says otherwise, he's playing."
According to ESPN, the 6'10 forward was cleared by doctors to play in mid-February and has practiced with the team on a few different occasions since. The Tigers went 20-11 in the regular season and have earned a first round bye in the SEC Tournament as the fifth seed. They will take on the winner of tonight's game between Georgia and Vanderbilt tomorrow afternoon at 3:25pm ET.
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