St. Louis – Like an annoying mosquito buzzing around one’s knees, Oregon 5-foot-6 freshman Tajuan Porter can sure be a pest on the basketball court.
“I try to disrupt things,” Porter said, beaming a devilish grin.
Oregon hopes Porter’s jump shot and jitterbug drives can distract 6-11 Joakim Noah and 6-10 Al Horford, or any tower of power top-seeded Florida brings off the bench today in the Midwest Regional final at the Edward Jones Dome.
Noah and Horford can’t exactly focus on the basket when they are busy trying to help locate Porter.
“It’s going to be hard for our whole team to contain him,” Horford said Saturday. “He does something that’s really hard to do, he creates off the dribble. We’re really aware of him.”
So is the rest of the country, at least since Friday. It’s also really hard for a diminutive guard to carry a team on his back, but the Ducks couldn’t bear to wonder what might have happened in the 76-72 Sweet 16 victory over UNLV without a huge effort by Porter. He took over, scoring 33 points and tying an NCAA Regional record with eight 3-pointers.
Thanks in large part to Porter, Oregon is playing in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2002, and just the second time since 1960. For a lineup devoid of a conventional post player, Porter has become Oregon’s little big man.
Porter’s average of 14.8 points ranks only behind that of All-American candidate Aaron Brooks (17.5).
“I have to use my quickness to my advantage,” Porter said. “I came (to Oregon) with a sense of urgency. Everybody was doubting me because of my size. They told me I wasn’t going to be able to play at this level.”
Oregon was the only big-name school to offer a scholarship to Porter, although he averaged 26.3 points, five assists and four steals as a senior at Detroit’s Renaissance High School. Two years earlier, Ducks assistant Kenny Payne first spotted Porter coming off the bench while Payne was recruiting another Renaissance player, current Oregon junior Malik Hairston.
“Before they were recruiting Malik, I didn’t even know Oregon was a state,” Porter recalled.
When Oregon signed Porter, perplexed Ducks fans complained that Ernie Kent’s recruiting hadn’t measured up. Recruiting gurus also had their doubts. “Blue Ribbon,” regarded as the bible of college basketball preview publications, ranked Porter last among Oregon’s three freshmen and predicted he would redshirt.
Wrong. Porter began his college career with 27 points against Lehigh, 28 against Cal State Northridge and then 38 in a 116-68 win over Portland State that included a school-record 10 3-pointers.
Brooks wasn’t surprised.
“I had to guard that little dude when he first came in,” Brooks said, referring to October practices. “He kind of put away my (concerns) about him, with a couple of moves that shook me a little bit. I knew he was in the right place.”
Porter might be as quick with the ball from baseline to baseline as anybody in the country. He will try to force Florida defenders on their heels and get the crowd on Oregon’s side.
“Everybody cheers for the little guy,” Kent said. “And he’s a guy that plays with a big, big heart. He’s a great example for parents who have that little kid in their family that everybody looks at and says, ‘You’ll never be a basketball player. Play soccer.’ We’ll, that’s not true. You can be whatever you want to be. Tajuan proves that.”
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
