Jontay Porter will play basketball for Missouri
Missouri basketball recruit, Jontay Porter, announced his commitment to play for the Tigers – the answer to “when,” is still not quite clear.
Earlier Monday evening, the four-star recruit from Nathan Hale announced, via Twitter, his intent to play basketball for Missouri. While we anticipated his intent to play for Mizzou, we were not – and still, are not quite clear on whether Jontay Porter will play in 2017 or 2018.
https://twitter.com/JontayPorter/status/866808504996118530
In an interview with Alex Schiffer, of PowerMizzou.com, Porter stated that he announced his commitment to keep the Missouri fanbase hyped, but has no exact time frame to when he will classify.
"Just to keep the hype levels up for Mizzou fans. They’ve been waiting for this for a long time and based on the recent commitments and everything the hype has been at a maximum and I just want to keep it going. With Jeremiah’s (Tilmon) commitment last week I thought this was the perfect time heading into summer."
Since Missouri still has one more scholarship (which was likely intended for Porter), it is extremely enticing to prognosticate that he will reclassify and suit-up in black and gold for 2017.
However, if Porter decides to complete his senior year at Hale, Missouri’s extra scholarship will roll over into 2018, and he can simply pick it up, then.
If Porter re-classifies and joins his brother and the rest of the 2017 recruiting class, he would be eligible to play immediately. Mizzou’s recruiting class would likely crack the top-5 for 2017, also.
Porter adds to the generations in his family that have called Columbia home, or have played for the Tigers.
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Porter’s aunt, Robin Pingeton, heads the women’s basketball team. Both his mother, Lisa (Becker) Porter, and father, Michael Porter, Sr., who was recently hired to a three-year contract as an assistant on the men’s team, played basketball.
Porter’s sister, Bri and Cierra, also play for the women’s team. Meanwhile, his older brother, Michael Porter, Jr. committed to play for Mizzou in 2017.
Missouri’s recent history is entrenched in the Porter bloodline.
Jontay Porter could join a recruiting class that includes his brother, Jeremiah Tilmon, CJ Roberts, Blake Harris, and graduate transfer Kassius Robertson.
Whether he decides on 2017 or 2018, Missouri is set to have a fantastic three-to-four years from Jontay Porter, and probably most of the 2017 recruiting class, in addition to some returning foundational players and future recruiting classes.
The Tigers now have major potential to bring some never-before-seen hardware back to Columbia.