Michael Porter Jr. likely to miss rest of season with back injury

The college career of Michael Porter Jr. may end before it ever really begins.

The Missouri Tigers’ star freshman forward will likely miss remainder of season as he undergoes spinal disc surgery, the school announced on Tuesday.

“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.”

Porter released the following in a statement:

“I really appreciate the support of my family and the program as I begin this process. I’m thankful for the kind words and messages I’ve received from fans. Those mean a lot to me. I cannot wait to be completely healthy and playing the game I love, once again.”

This is a brutal loss for Missouri, who was set to be a contender in the SEC and a threat to make a deep run in March. Now, they’ll struggle just to make the NIT, as was evidenced by Monday’s narrow win over Division II Emporia State.

This is also a big loss for the SEC, as Missouri was set to be one of the league’s 3-4 best teams this season.

Hopefully for Porter, this is just a minor setback in what was shaping up to be a promising basketball career. He’s still a likely lottery pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.