These instant power houses, not harnessed by district boundaries, are cash generating machines with cable sports networks and athletic attire companies fighting within to foot the bill with gear provided gratis. They can be found in every corner of America—and their itinerary will often have games scheduled in every corner of America.
Father Tolton, a small catholic high school in Columbia, MO, who has only fielded a varsity basketball team for slightly over a decade, has mightily climbed into the ranks of the state’s elites. Father Tolton is a Class 4 school, one classification larger than Monroe City and will surely challenge for state honors come March.
Call Father Tolton the (power)house the Porters built.
Michael Porter, Jr and his brother Jontay, in 2016, led The Tolton Trailblazers to the Class 2 Missouri state title. The older Porter was considered the nation’s top player in his class. His brother, a year younger, was also considered a 5-star recruit. Both stood 6’9. That summer (2016) their father, Michael Porter, Sr., was hired as an assistant coach at the University of Washington. His only previous college coaching experience had been as an assistant for the University of Missouri’s women’s team where his two daughters Bri and Cierra were star players, and his sister-in-law was the head coach.
After his father was hired at Washington, Michael Jr. committed to the University of Washington and along with his brother transferred to Nathan Hale High School in Seattle for his senior year.
As a senior, Porter, Jr. averaged 36.2 points and 13.6 rebounds a game as Nathan Hale High recorded a perfect 29–0 record and won the Washington Class 3A State Championship. After hoisting another state championship trophy, Porter was later that spring named MVP at the McDonald's All-American Game.
Also, that spring, after Lorenzo Romar was fired as Washington's head coach and he needed a new job, Porter Sr. decided to test the market and was hired as an assistant coach for the University of Missouri, back in Columbia where only 12 months prior his sons had led Tolton to the state title. Porter Jr. then decommitted from Washington and along with his brother returned to Columbia and signed to play with his father’s newest employer, the University of Missouri’s men’s basketball team. His brother, Jontay, instead of returning to Tolton for his senior season and winning a third straight state title (been there, done that) decided to skip his last year of high school and go straight to college ball and not surprisingly chose to join his brother and his dad with the Mizzou program.
Porter, Sr, for a man with only one year of assistant experience as a men’s basketball coach must be a fine negotiator. Despite a resume short on foundation, Missouri made him the highest paid assistant coach in the history of men’s college basketball by giving him a salary that topped that of the University’s President, a guaranteed $1,125,000. He and sons could now carpool to practice, if they so wanted to.
Both brothers spent one unfulfilling injury plagued year, the 2017-18 season, at Mizzou before departing for the NBA. In the fall of 2017, due to the presence of the trio, heady talk was of the Tigers having snared the top recruiting class in the nation and of an on the horizon national championship. Today, in what would have been the brother’s senior season, their dad is no longer on the Tiger’s coaching staff (he was in attendance at the MC game) and Missouri is buried at number 138 in the RPI rankings, one slot behind Stony Brook University. Neither Mizzou or Stony Brook are considered threats for this year's Final Four.
The 2022 Trailblazers hoops edition is led by the two youngest of the gold standard family off Mid Missouri basketball. To be fair the youngest two siblings do not rival their two older brothers. But Senior Jevon Porter is 6’9 and Junior Izaak is 6’3. Jevon has signed for next year with mid-major Pepperdine University, coached now by his dad’s former boss at Washington, Lorenzo Romar. Izaak will most likely end up playing subdivision 1 level college basketball if he plays at all. By all accounts, all eight Porter siblings are not only outstanding athletes, but academically solid and of strong moral character. They certainly make for formidable opponents for a small school like Monroe City.
But, for now, forget about the Porters on the night Tolton traveled to Monroe City.
Aaron Rowe is a 5’11 freshman. He plays point guard for the Trailblazers and maybe weighs 140 pounds, soaking wet. He looks to be about 12 years old. I had heard he was a very good player, perhaps one of the top 100 freshmen in the nation. Yes, Aaron Rowe is very good. If there are 99 better, I would like to see them. I am not sure who the young man carpools to school with, maybe the coach? If so, gas money well spent.
Against Monroe City Rowe scored 17 of his team’s first 21 points. In the same span, the Porter brothers combined totaled one two-point field goal. Rowe's 16th and 17th points were a statement - perhaps the most monstrous and jaw dropping ever dunk in a gymnasium that has seen its share of rim rattlers. After hitting a deep three-point shot, with a hand in his face to extend his team's lead to seven points with just under four minutes left in the first half, Rowe stole a pass just inside of center court, took three hard dribbles to the rim and tomahawked a dunk that left the mostly packed gymnasium of Panther fans in stunned silence. For all practical purposes, the game was over.
Young Mr. Rowe is poised and polished beyond his years. He spent the last minute of the game resting on the end of the bench signing autographs for newfound fans.
Rowe finished the game with 22 points. He looked little in the second half to try to score. He is extremely quick off the dribble and is a deadly outside shooter as he nailed four of five three-point attempts. Tahki Chavez is s a 6’3 senior. He is unsung amongst his more polished teammates, but he is the glue man who holds his team together. He is Tolton’s top defender. He harassed MC’s Josh Talton into his poorest shooting game of the season, as the normally accurate Panther senior made only four of 13 shots. Talton did lead his team with 13 points. Jayden Robinson contributed 12.
The Porter brothers were held in check. Izack had 7 points and Javon 6. Javon did have 13 rebounds. Justin Boyer is a 6’5 role player but he plays a very important role. He only took five shots and hit three. He is the team’s zone buster, when needed. This night he was not needed.
Monroe City trailed 32-18 at the half and were outplayed badly in the third period while being outscored 15-8. The final score was 59-41. It was the lowest scoring output of the season for MC. Their shooting was off much of the night but attribute the visitors "stick like fly paper" man to man defense. The Panthers shot a season low 31% from the field and were successful on only three of 17 shots behind the arc.
MC Assistant coach Ed Talton after the game stood outside the team's locker room and gave words of encouragement and high fives as the dejected players departed for home. “We knew this was going to be tough,” Talton said. “And they sure were. We just didn't have an answer for Rowe tonight. He really makes a difference; he really makes them go.”
Assistant coach Rick Baker said the game plan was to try to slow down Father Tolton. “But we don't want to hold the ball either,” he said. “We're not going to get better like that. If we're going to schedule these people, we need to play them. And challenge us. We did tonight, but we just didn't have any answers.”
“We just need to put this one behind us,” said Talton. “We're not going to see anybody like that in the postseason. We've got to remember that. We are going to learn from this. We just need now to move on.”
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