Written by: Joe Ryan

Twitter: @joeryan1621

Twitter: @wingspansports

Missouri freshman phenomenon, Michael Porter Jr. has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. Porter Jr. will undergo surgery on his back, specifically on spinal cords.

Porter Jr. has only played 2 legitimate minutes in his collegiate career, before getting injured, missing the next 3 games, and now out for the season.

Porter Jr. was going to be a top 3 pick this year, but even though Porter is ruled out for the year, will he play another game in a Missouri uniform? Back in October the freshman phenomenon claimed that he would be willing to return to Missouri for his sophomore season if he didn’t reach the goals he had for the Tigers this season. Porter Jr. seems like a guy who doesn’t necessarily care about his individual stats, but more about how the team does.

The chances of Porter Jr. returning to Missouri now after this injury is very, very slim. Not many people are going to risk getting hurt back to back years without getting their millions of dollars. It just doesn’t make a ton of sense.

This is a big blow for college basketball as a whole. Porter Jr. is one of those generational talents and it would’ve been fun to see him try and lead Missouri back to relevancy. In his one “real” game against Kansas, Porter Jr. scored 21 points, 8 rebounds with 2 blocks.

Missouri is going to need some of their guys to make bigger roles to reach the tournament, especially Jeremiah Tilmon. The SEC is a lot more loaded with solid teams this year, and without Porter Jr. the Tigers are going to have a tough time reaching the NCAA tournament. However, if things break right, they have the talent to get there still.