Otto Porter Jr. held a press conference Monday afternoon to announce his decision.
The Otto Porter Jr. era at Georgetown officially came to a close Monday afternoon, as the star forward announced that he would forgo his two remaining years of eligibility and enter the 2013 NBA Draft.
Porter was widely expected to declare for the draft following a phenomenal 2012-13 campaign, in which he was named Big East player of the year and finished in the top five in nearly every national player of the year race.
Porter insisted that he hadn’t made his decision until the season had come to a close.
“During the season, I’d been trying to focus on the season,” he said. “After the season, I started thinking about my decision.”
The declaration came as no surprise to Head Coach John Thompson III, who indicated that he was ready to deal with his best player’s departure.
“It’s not like I was caught off-guard,” Thompson III said. “I think we’ll be OK.”
The 19-year-old Porter is a consensus lottery pick, and some mock drafts place him among the first five players selected. Scouts praise his versatility and high basketball IQ, though his 6-foot-8 frame means he’ll have to prove that he can play the perimeter at the next level. Porter has drawn comparisons to smooth, athletic “tweener” forwards like Memphis’ Tayshaun Prince and Boston’s Jeff Green (COL ’12).
Draft night will mark a major milestone in Porter’s journey, which has been a modern basketball fairy tale.
The rural southeastern Missouri native completed a stellar four-year career at Scott County Central High School in 2011, but his decision not to play AAU basketball caused him to fly under many recruiters’ radars. He chose Georgetown over local powerhouses like Missouri and Kansas that April, making him one of the last highly rated players in his class to commit.
“He’s one of those kids that has been a coach’s dream ever since I’ve known him,” then-Scott County Central coach Kenyon Wright told The Hoya after Porter’s commitment.
Thompson III referred to Porter as “the most prepared freshman I’ve ever coached” throughout his freshman year, but the rookie still came off the bench for much of the season. Even after breaking into the starting lineup late in the year, Porter took a backseat to seniors Jason Clark and Henry Sims and junior Hollis Thompson on the offensive end. Still, his textbook defense, prolific rebounding and impressive court vision quickly endeared him to the Georgetown faithful.
The Hoyas lost Clark and Sims to graduation and Thompson to the draft, so Porter and junior MarkelStarks became the focal points of the offense in 2012. Porter was solid if not spectacular early in the season, but classmate Greg Whittington’s academic suspension forced him to take a starring role or risk diminishing an already anemic offense.
He chose the former and leapt into the spotlight, attacking with confidence on the offensive end while remaining a stalwart defender and rebounder. The forward jacked up his scoring average without sacrificing any efficiency, and the Hoyas caught fire largely as a result. By mid-February, Porter had cemented his status as the impending Big East player of the year and had vaulted himself into the national player of the year conversation.
The high point of the 2012-13 season for most Georgetown fans came as a result of Porter’s heroics. In the Hoyas’ final visit to Syracuse’s Carrier Dome, the star forward singlehandedly dismantled the Orange to the tune of a career-high 33 points.
“He really won the game,” Syracuse Head Coach Jim Boeheim said afterward. “He had to make plays, and he made them all day.”
While that virtuosic Carrier Dome performance will be many fans’ most vivid memory of Porter, his short Hilltop career ended with a whimper rather than the roar most expected.
After a dominant regular season, the Hoyas fell to Syracuse in the Big East tournament semifinal then suffered a dramatic upset at the hands of 15th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast in the NCAA tournament round of 64. In both games, Porter struggled to score and made several uncharacteristic mistakes.
Still, Porter will be remembered as the most talented Hoya since Greg Monroe, who likewise left for the draft after his sophomore year in 2010. Like Green, Georgetown’s most recent early declarer indicated a willingness to finish his degree in the NBA offseason.
And despite the hit his team will take — especially in the scoring column — Thompson III endorsed his star’s decision.
“I think he’s ready, as much mentally and emotionally, as it relates to basketball,” Thompson III said. “I thought he went about the process in an educated manner.”
