clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Michael Porter Jr. is recruiting hard and allowing Mizzou fans to dream again

Here are today’s Mizzou Links.

By Bill Connelly

You have to give Michael Porter Jr. this much: He’s trying to make up for lost time. He’s only been a Mizzou commit for five days, but while up in Chicago for McDonald’s All American practice, he’s been recruiting as hard as he can.

Even if he hadn’t responded in the affirmative — “Yes sir,” he said — the reluctant grin that poked through would have given him away.

“It’s behind the scenes work,” he elaborated. “Nothing’s a done deal yet. I’m working to try to get some pieces with me.” [...]

“I just tell them, especially these dudes, let’s go do something special,” Porter said. “It can be our team and we can go in there and do something special and go to the” NBA “together whenever we decide to go after one or two years. Plus, I’m close with a lot of these dudes so I think they might like playing with me.”

Top-10 prospect Kevin Knox is maybe the player MPJ is coming at the hardest.

“He’s been in my ear ever since he committed (to Mizzou),” Knox said Tuesday during media day. “Every day, he texts me and makes sure that I stay in touch with him. It’s a possibility. You never know. I’ve got one more official. That could be it or it couldn’t be.”

The thought of these two behemoths on the wing is certainly intriguing.

“Mike said that me and him would be unstoppable on the wings together (at Mizzou,” Knox said. “I'm just listening to see what they have to offer, and possibly make a visit. … Every day, he's been texting me, making sure I stay in touch with him.”

He’s also working on Mohamed Bamba, but those efforts don’t seem to be paying off.

This might be too little, too late — these guys have had their recruiting paths set up for years, and now they’re supposed to consider an eight-win school at the last minute? — but it’s fun to watch. And it’s part for the course with Porter, who isn’t shying away from the spotlight, and who is allowing Mizzou fans to dream a bit again.

This whole thing is zany.

Steph Curry’s protégé who dates a popular actress is the No. 1 player in the land and might bring other top players to Mizzou.

Mizzou.

It’s all happening so fast, we need to step back from it for a second – just to comprehend it all.

And to some, who suffered through the past three seasons, it’s incomprehensible.

The “popular actress” in question:

The fan enthusiasm has certainly gotten back to Porter.

“The feedback I got was crazy,” said Porter, who is the Naismith Prep Player of the Year and Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year. “I didn’t know there were that many Mizzou fans, but it’s been awesome. I really feel like I’ve been accepted by the Mizzou family, so I can’t wait to get there.”

The McDonald’s All American Game is tonight at 6pm CT on ESPN.

Other Basketball Links:

More Links:

  • Welp, two is a losing streak. A 6-5 loss to SEMO (Steve Bieser’s former club) dropped Mizzou to 21-4 overall, and for the first time all year, the Tigers have lost more than one game in a row. A late comeback fell short on a safety squeeze. In the grand scheme of things, this loss doesn’t mean much — everybody drops a midweek, Johnny Wholestaff start here and there — but after the 20-1 start, Mizzou has lost three of four. The Tigers could use a confidence boost.

Next Up In Links