The Missouri Tigers have landed 5-star recruit Jontay Porter.
In one of the least surprising moves of the summer, forward Jontay Porter announced via his Twitter account on Wednesday night that he will re-classify from the class of 2018 to the class of 2017 in order to play with his brother, No. 1-ranked recruit Michael Porter Jr., for the Missouri Tigers this season.
The brothers join 4-star recruits Jeremiah Tilmon and Blake Harris as well as 3-star prospect C.J. Roberts to form one of the nation’s top recruiting classes.
Porter is a 6-foot-10, 225-pound big man who rose into the top 10 of the class of 2018 because of his strong performances on the Nike EYBL circuit this summer. In 21 games played, he averaged 15.8 points and 12.4 rebounds per contest while shooting 37.6 percent from behind the 3-point arc.
That shooting range is no joke. Porter attempted 5.2 3s per contest over the summer, helping MoKan Elite spread the floor offensively in a way that should translate to the college level and give new Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin plenty of flexibility in developing his frontcourt rotation.
The most common lineup will likely involve Porter Jr. at small forward, his brother at the power forward spot and Tilmon at center, but Martin could embrace an offensive attack with five shooters on the floor at a time by sitting Tilmon and sliding the Porter brothers into the two frontcourt positions. It’s a move that wouldn’t necessarily be consistent with Martin’s coaching history, but he’s rarely had the type of talent on his roster that he’ll have to work with this season on Columbia.
Next: Takeaways from the Kansas Jayhawks' trip to Italy
Porter’s re-classification and commitment also represents another major stepping stone forward for a program that has spent the last three seasons at the bottom of the Southeastern Conference. The key for Martin will be using this recruiting class as a catalyst to land other big name prospects in the future.