ST. LOUIS -- The young man was supposed to be one of the best players in college basketball, a natural scorer who reminded some people of Kevin Durant, a surefire lottery pick and the savior of a Mizzou basketball program that had just suffered through its worst three-year stint since Lyndon B. Johnson was president in the 1960s.

Then freshman Michael Porter Jr. took the floor on Nov. 10 at Mizzou Arena against Iowa State. It was opening night to the college basketball season, and Missouri fans felt renewed. They had an invigorating new coach in St. Louis native Cuonzo Martin, and they had the No. 2-ranked recruit in all of college basketball. In the opening minute, Porter grabbed a defensive rebound. He grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed Missouri three and got the first basket of his college career on the putback. Then, two minutes into the game, he asked off the court. He took a seat on the bench and placed an ice pack on his left hip. Missouri won the game, but afterward every Missouri fan was sick to our stomach.

Almost exactly four months later -- after loads of speculation about the extent of Porter's injury, after a surgery on his lower back called a microdisectomy, after cryptic Instagram posts about his return and fevered back-and-forth speculation the past couple weeks among Mizzou fans -- the tall, lean Porter walked out of a tunnel at Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Wednesday afternoon. It was the home of this week's SEC tournament, 125 miles east of where he was last seen competing in a meaningful basketball game.

He stripped off his warm-ups, stretched his legs and started putting up jumpers. The shots were smooth and true, the same high release and the same rainbow arc that helped him average 36.2 points per game his senior year in high school, when he was named a McDonald's All-American. Sweat formed on his brow. He seemed ready to go. But as tortured Mizzou fans know -- and I'm an alumnus myself -- you never trust your gut when it comes to this program. His teammates have been practicing with him for weeks, but even they were in the dark as to whether he would play in Missouri's opening SEC tournament game Thursday afternoon.

"I guess that's the million-dollar question, isn't it?" Missouri junior Kevin Puryear told reporters after Missouri's practice session. "That's a question I'm going to let Coach Martin answer. I'm not really sure at this point."

When Martin strode to the podium a few minutes later, he gave an answer that was music to Missouri fans' ears.

"Yes, he's prepared to play," Martin said. "I'd be surprised if he plays 30 minutes. He will not start in the game. (But) unless Mike says otherwise, that's what it is."

He. Will. Play.

Porter has been understandably cautious about his return. In a few months, he'll be a certain lottery pick, likely selected in the top five. There's no need to potentially jeopardize millions of dollars because of a too-early return from injury, so Martin purposefully made sure Porter didn't feel any pressure from the coaching staff to return from the surgery if he wasn't ready.

"I just looked at it that he wasn't coming back," Martin said. "You gotta respect the space of a player going through something like that."

But on Tuesday, Porter came up to Martin.

"He said, 'Coach, I'm ready to go,' " Martin told reporters. "He said, 'Coach, I want to help the team.' "

The way Porter will help Missouri is by adding one of the nation's purest scorers (not to mention one of the nation's most versatile near-7-footers) to a team that's been playing with seven scholarship players. He turns a team that CBSSports.com bracketologist Jerry Palm currently projects as an 8-seed in the NCAA tournament into one of the most dangerous 8-seeds in recent memory. Just his sheer presence on the floor will change the approach of Missouri's opponents. While Martin indicated that Porter will need an adjustment time to get back to game shape -- "the game reps will get you back to 100 percent," he said -- his health is just fine, Martin said. The minutes may be limited, but that doesn't mean Martin plans to be cautious with his young star.

"When he plays, he plays," Martin told reporters after Missouri's win over Arkansas last weekend, when Porter's status was still in doubt. "There's no minimal (amount of minutes). We playing. He'll play 'til he's exhausted. We're going to take him out. We rolling."

There has been no shortage of pundits questioning the wisdom of Porter returning to play as an amateur when there's millions of dollars at stake if he gets re-injured. I asked Martin Saturday about his conversations with Porter and his family about that risk-reward question; Martin said the risk to Porter is no different than the risk to any other player who is 100 percent healthy. Still, you'll hear doubters. And I get that.

But I also get this: Michael Porter Jr. only has one shot at the collegiate basketball experience. Think what you will about amateurism, but there's something special and different about college hoops that Porter will never get in the NBA. Add to it that this may be his only chance to play alongside his younger brother, Jontay, and for his father, Michael Porter Sr., an assistant coach for Missouri. Not to mention the fact that Porter grew up in Columbia, Mo.

This is his college team. He'll finally get a chance to prove it.