After weeks of swirling rumors and anticipation, it appears Missouri men’s basketball will finally have freshman forward Michael Porter Jr. back on the court come Thursday for the SEC Tournament in St. Louis.

Cuonzo Martin confirmed that Porter would be prepared to play Thursday after a team shootaround at the Scottrade Center on Wednesday.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Porter told Martin he was ready to play come tournament time at a Tuesday team practice. Martin said that Porter wouldn’t start for the Tigers on Thursday and likely wouldn’t play more than 30 minutes, according to the same story.

Porter’s return has been highly anticipated. After Porter decommitted from the University of Washington last March, he committed to Missouri. Porter was a five-star prospect on ESPN, 247Sports and Rivals. He was also ranked as a top-two national prospect on each site.

The build for Porter’s debut was immense, but the Tigers lost him just two minutes into the season opener against Iowa State. After losing Porter versus Iowa State, he opted for back surgery, and he was likely out for the remainder of the season.

Missouri went 20-11 in the regular season, landing the No. 5 seed in this weekend’s SEC Tournament. The Tigers will face the winner of Wednesday’s first-round matchup between No. 12 Georgia and No. 13 Vanderbilt on Thursday at 2:25 p.m. CT.

_Edited by Cassie Allen | callen@themaneater.com_