Charles Herron Jr

School: University of Missouri

Hometown: Seattle, Washington

Position: Forward

Year: Freshman

Last March, the number one high school basketball player in the nation, Michael Porter Jr. shocked the College Basketball world when he retracted his commitment from the University of Washington and decided to recommit to the University of Missouri. Porter Jr., a 6-10 215 pound small forward, received a release from the Washington Huskies just weeks after they fired their head coach, Lorenzo Romar. He then decided to take his talents to Columbia, Missouri, and play under Cuonzo Martin, who is in his first season as the Missouri Tiger’s Head Coach.

When asked why he chose Missouri, Porter Jr. said, “I wanted to play in the SEC, when I leave Missouri I want to have revived the program and leave a lasting legacy.” Missouri is a University with some basketball history and a team that makes the NCAA tournament fairly often. However, this season will be different. Tiger’s fans have a lot to look forward to now with the privilege of watching Michael Porter Jr. lead their team game in and game out.

Porter Jr. has raised the bar for the conference as well. The SEC has not been a highly regarded basketball conference in the past few years. However, with the addition of young highly recruited players like Porter Jr., the SEC has also seen top recruits like Collin Sexton commit to Alabama, and Quade Green to Kentucky. With the conference getting more and more top talent, it will look to take that next step in being one of the strongest basketball conferences in the nation.

He was the Gatorade National Player of the Year in high school basketball for the 2016-17 season when he lead his team, Nathan Hale High School, to an undefeated season and a state championship while averaging 37 points and 14.3 rebounds per game in his senior season breaking records and drawing national coverage each and every game. At the mid-season mark, he was selected to play in the annual McDonald’s All American Game as well as making the 2017 USA Nike Hoops Summit Team.

NBA scouts have compared him to Tracy McGrady, and with a ceiling like his, he can only get better. Come June, Porter Jr. is already projected to be the first player taken in the NBA draft. Whether or not he stays for more than one year or goes one and done at the college level is a mystery, but Porter Jr. is a force to be reckoned with and will have plenty of heads turning this upcoming College Basketball season.