When Michael Porter Jr. was released from his letter of intent to Washington and subsequently committed to Missouri, everything changed for him -- including his jersey number.
Porter Jr., the No. 2-rated recruit in the class of 2017 according to 247Sports’ composite rankings, will play what many believe will be just one season at Missouri before becoming a top-five pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. But the jersey number he had in high school -- the one he wants to wear in college -- is currently taken by sophomore guard Terrence Phillips, who has started every game for the Tigers over the past two seasons.
So ... yeah. It won’t be a simple jersey swap.
Porter Jr. offered up a simple (and maybe one-sided) solution: Play one-on-one with Phillips for the right to wear it.
Porter Jr. said he and Terrence Phillips have "a little discussion to do" about Mizzou jersey No. 1. Wants to play him one-on-one for it.
— Tod Palmer (@todpalmer) March 28, 2017
Not quite fair. Phillips is a good basketball player, but at 5-fet-11, he wouldn’t stand much of a chance matched up against the 6-11 Porter who projects as lottery pick next year.
Something tells me new Tigers head coach Cuonzo Martin will figure out a different way to settle this.