A day after landing Michael Porter Sr. on his staff, Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin has added Michael Porter Jr. – the top-ranked recruit in the 2017 class – to the Tigers’ roster.
Porter Jr. made the decision official on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TheMPJ1/status/845382296555311104
The Columbia native also considered Virginia, Oklahoma, and Washington after being released from his national letter of intent with the latter following Lorenzo Romar’s firing.
The addition of Porter Jr. now gives Martin the No. 49 recruiting class according to 247Sports.com.
Missouri’s only other signing in the 2017 class is 3-star point guard CJ Roberts, who was recruited by former Tiger coach Kim Anderson.
Lovell’s Analysis:
The addition of Porter Jr. was inevitable once news broke that Porter Sr. was leaving Washington for Missouri.
There was simply no way that the nation’s top recruit was going to pass up the opportunity to play for his dad in the city that he calls home.
Naturally, those that didn’t watch a single Missouri game this season are already comparing Porter Jr.’s commitment to that of former LSU phenom Ben Simmons, who didn’t make the NCAA tournament with an underwhelming Tigers team in his only season in Baton Rouge.
Porter Jr. will only be in Columbia for one season before being a top five pick in the 2018 NBA draft. However, as odd as it sounds, Porter Jr. has much more working in his favor than Simmons did at LSU.
For starters, Martin is a better coach than Johnny Jones. Also, Missouri’s current roster values defense, which is something that Simmons’ LSU squad didn’t value at all.
As I’ve said before, people don’t understand how good this Missouri nucleus can be. The team will return its top six scorers, and now adds a prolific scorer in Porter Jr.
For the most part, the Tigers were competitive in SEC play this past season. The missing ingredient was scoring, and the addition of Porter Jr. should solve those woes.
Combining his talents with the underrated talents of players like Jordan Barnett, Kevin Puryear, and Terrence Phillips, should give Missouri an excellent chance to take a big step forward next season.