By SEAN BOCK
Missouri freshman phenom Michael Porter Jr. is expected to play in the SEC Tournament this week, Cuonzo Martin told Paul Finebaum.
“He said ‘Coach, I want to help the team’…for me it was always Mike’s decision to play or not play,” Martin said.
Martin added Porter Jr. will come off the bench and not play an enormous amount of minutes.
Porter Jr. hasn’t played since the season opener on Nov. 10 against Iowa State when he scored two points in two minutes before exiting the game with an apparent back injury.
Porter Jr. was cleared for all basketball activities on Feb. 22.
Missouri is the No. 5 seed in the SEC Tournament and will face the winner of No. 12 Georgia/No. 13 Vanderbilt on March 8th in St. Louis.
According to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, the Tigers are a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
In the latest ESPN NBA Mock Draft, Porter Jr. is the No. 6 pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers.