PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Michael Porter Jr.
F, 6-10, Nathan Hale, Seattle
Details: The Missouri commit led the Patriots to a 3A state title and a 29-0 record. He averaged 36.4 points and 13.5 rebounds per game.
Teammates say my best quality is: Hard work.
Greatest achievement: Winning the Peach Jam championship or winning a gold medal with USA Basketball.
Failure I learned from: My sophomore year (at Father Tolton in Columbia, Mo.), we were the No. 1 team in the state and everybody thought we would win state but we lost in the quarterfinals. From that I learned, no matter how high you are projected, you can be beat. People confuse me with: Jayson Tatum.
Favorite class: I like Math because I’m great with numbers. Math comes really easily for me.
Outside of sports: A big inspiration for me is my dad. He’s everything I want to be as a man. He’s raised me well. I know I make a lot of mistakes, but he’s always there loving me, teaching me to be better. I’m likely to sing along to: No Regrets by Lecrae. I listen to it all the time. My best piece on the piano: I just started piano lessons. My best piece so far is Jingle Bells. Typical breakfast: I am vegetarian. I usually make a big smoothie with two bananas, strawberries, mixed berries, plus eggs and pancakes. Last movie I saw: Get Out. It was amazing. Favorite teacher: My mom. I was home-schooled all the way
to the eighth grade. This year, I’m doing online curriculum, but back in the day, she would go into full teacher mode. She was super nice, but if we were doing something wrong, she would let us know. Biggest names on my phone: Steph Curry or Kevin Durant. Favorite app on my phone: The Bible app. The All-USA Player of the Year next year will be: My guy, Marvin Bagley III. The deal with actress
Madison Pettis: Me and her have talked a little bit. We started following each other on Instagram. One day, I saw she commented ‘ Happy Birthday’ on one of my pictures. She’s been a kind of a crush of mine for a minute and I had to slide her some DMs. I just said, “What’s Up,” and somehow she saw it and replied and the rest is history.