Missouri has announced that freshman star Michael Porter Jr. will undergo surgery and likely miss the remainder of the 2017-18 season.
Porter will undergo a microdiscectomy of the L3-L4 spinal discs on Tuesday, with the recovery time expected to be three to four months.
Statement from #Mizzou:
Michael Porter, Jr. will undergo surgery on Tuesday, Nov. 21, in Dallas, Texas. The procedure, a microdiscectomy of the L3-L4 spinal discs, has a projected recovery time of three-four months and will likely cause him to miss the remainder of the season.
— Mizzou Hoops (@MizzouHoops) November 21, 2017
According to the school, Porter is expected to make a full recovery.
Porter only played two minutes in the season opener against Iowa State, and is currently projected to be a top five pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.
Lovell’s Analysis
This is obviously a brutal turn of events for Porter and the entire Mizzou program.
The Tigers entered this season with huge expectations following his arrival, and now it appears that he will be sidelined for the rest of the year.
While I know many Missouri fans are disappointed, the most important thing in this whole situation is Porter’s health. Now that we know that the injury was serious enough to warrant surgery, there was absolutely no reason to put him back on the floor and risk causing further damage.
So, although people may be aggravated that the program made this sound like a lesser injury than it actually was, Porter’s health is priority number one.
Of course, this development will leave many people wondering how much this changes Missouri’s outlook this season.
Here’s the thing: The Tigers still have a lot of talent on the roster, and as freshman like Michael’s brother Jontay, Jeremiah Tilmon, and Blake Harris continue to develop, things will like a bit better than they have in recent games against Utah and Emporia State.
But Porter has such a unique skill set that it was going to be extremely difficult to gameplan for this team. His presence on the court would’ve opened up so much for everyone else, and without him, it changes things quite a bit.
At this point, the NCAA Tournament should still be the goal for Cuonzo Martin’s team. Again, there’s lots of talent there.
However, it’s clear that the road to be a top half team in a competitive SEC just got much more difficult for the Tigers.
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