Gettin’ Buckets: The Life of Michael Porter, Jr, The Washington Huskies Commit and Top 5 Prospect

Photo courtesy of Position Sports/Nike.

By David Cordova

In the Class of 2017, there has been plenty of prospects with a lot of upside and great potential around the country. However, there has been one player that has stood out amongst plenty of others.

Michael Porter Jr. has been one of the best prospects in the country in the last couple of years and has shown that he has what it takes to be a prime-time player. Porter, a 6-10 swingman, is rated the No. 2 prospect in the country in this year’s senior class by ESPN.

But there’s a reason that he goes so hard on the court. “Just providing for my family and being the best that I can be. And take advantage of all that God has can given me.”

In his first three years of high school, the 18-year-old Porter dominated the basketball scene in the state of Missouri at Father Tolton Catholic High School and scored 2,449 points in the process. Last season as a junior, he scored 28.5 points, 11.8 rebounds & 3.4 assists per game for the Trailblazers, while leading them to a 30-3 record, and helped them win a Missouri Class III state championship.

His style of play, which consists of explosion and also a good shooting stroke and many people compare his game to NBA superstar Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors. Many have even called him “Baby KD.”

This spring & summer, Porter continued to improve his stock, averaging 24 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in the Nike EYBL for MoKan Elite, which had a 13-3 record throughout four sessions, which led them to an appearance at the Peach Jam. MoKan Elite, led by Porter, Trae Young (No. 14 recruit by Rivals.com in the 2017 class), Carter’Are Gordon (St. Louis commit and No. 9 recruit in 2018 class), Bryan Trimble (Florida State commit) and Jared Ridder (Xavier commit) steamrolled through the competition and emerged as the 2016 Nike EYBL champions.

On his experience on playing in the Nike EYBL: “It was cool. The EYBL was a really, great league and the talent was really good and I liked it.”

Porter was also a part of the U18 USA Basketball squad that went undefeated with a 5-0 record in Chile at the FIBA Americas tournament in Chile in July, which resulted in the team winning a gold medal. He averaged 15.8 points, 5.6 rebounds & 2.4 assists per game during the tournament.

After the summer was over, the main question was where will Porter headed to college. On July 15th, Porter committed to the University of Washington, to play for his godfather, head coach Lorenzo Romar.

What’s also amazing about this commitment is that his father, Michael Porter, Sr., was most recently named as an assistant coach on their staff. Also, his younger brother, Jontay Porter, rated the No. 32 recruit in the Class of 2018 by 24/7 Sports, is also committed to the Huskies.

Porter is one of five recruits for Washington, which has the No. 2 recruiting class in the country, which also includes Blake Harris (Word of God Christian Academy/Raleigh, NC) and also local standouts Daejon Davis and Jaylen Nowell from Garfield High School from Seattle.

Another big move for Porter is that due to his father accepting the job at Washington, he has transferred to Nathan Hale High School in Seattle. His coach is none other than three-time NBA All-Star and former Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy, who coincidentally, is also an alum of Washington.

Though his talent has brought him this far, he remains grounded. “No, I’m not content with my game by any means. The main thing for me is to get stronger at this point,” says Porter.

The future seems pretty bright for the five-star prospect thus far. Everything seems that as if it is set for him. Next year with the Huskies, he will be a part of a team that will look to make noise in the Pac-12 Conference. But there is a caveat: he still has to finish high school.

Now that he’s a senior, his mission is this: “Get buckets and do my thing. Just hooping it up. Every day. Just working out. I’m not content with where I’m at. I’m never going to be content until I make it. So I gotta keep grinding.”

Highlights of Michael Porter, Jr: