Cuonzo Martin has wasted no time getting to work at Missouri.
Missouri announced on Wednesday that they have hired Martin to be their new head basketball coach on a 7-year deal worth around $3 million per season, according to a report. Martin resigned from his job at Cal in order to become the head coach in his hometown state.
Missouri was dreadful at 2-16 in SEC play and 8-24 overall this season, so Martin has a lot to do. One quick way turn things around would be landing top recruit Michael Porter Jr. Apparently Martin is taking aim at that.
ESPN’s Paul Biancardi reports that Martin is going to hire Michael Porter Sr. as an assistant. He claims that Porter Jr. did not sign a national letter of intent with Washington.
Cuonzo Martin will add Michael Porter Sr as an assistant, per sources. Michael Porter Jr did not sign an NLI.
— Paul Biancardi (@PaulBiancardi) March 15, 2017
Back in Nov., Washington announced that Porter Jr. was among the players in their recruiting class to sign an NLI. Porter Jr. is a forward and one of the top recruits in the country. His younger brother Jontay Porter is also a top recruit and could help turn around a program like the Huskies or Tigers.
Asked a UW spokesperson about this today and was told Porter did, indeed, sign an NLI. Will be a story to watch. https://t.co/nGKN0Ndje7
— Christian Caple (@ChristianCaple) March 15, 2017
The Porters played last season at Father Tolton High School in Columbia, Mo., but they spent this season at Nathan Hale in Seattle. Porter Sr. was hired last year to work for Washington’s Lorenzo Romar, with whom he has a close relationship. But Romar was fired by Washington on Wednesday, which seems to pave the way for the Porters to end up at Missouri.
Both Porter brothers have already expressed their disappointment in Washington’s decision to fire Romar.
