Scott County Central standout Otto Porter signs with Georgetown

Scott County Central senior Otto Porter made his verbal commitment to play basketball at Georgetown official Monday by signing a letter of intent to join the Hoyas next season.

Now that his college decision is final, Porter can focus on what his new coaches expect from him.

"Basically they want me to bring us a national championship," Porter said.

"They also see me -- how I play and how I fit into their program with the other freshmen that's coming in," the 6-foot-9 forward added, saying that the Georgetown staff sees him as, "just a great player that knows how to play the ballgame basically."

These are the heights Porter's basketball dreams have reached after choosing Georgetown over Missouri and Kansas.

"Great atmosphere, great coaches, great tradition basketballwise and academicwise," Porter said. "It's just a great place to be around, positive people. In the end it's somewhere I can be successful."

Porter's decision to attend was swayed by a coaching change at Missouri and a visit to Georgetown's campus in Washington, D.C.

"He really wanted to go to Mizzou, but whenever they didn't follow through he chose Georgetown since he went and saw what all he liked there," said his mother, Elnora Porter. "And I liked it, too. I was like Lord, please."

Georgetown is a private Catholic university that had an enrollment of 7,433 students in 2009. By comparison, Missouri's enrollment was almost 30,000 students that same year and Kansas' was more than 20,000.

"Just how great the people were," Porter said when asked what he liked about the campus. "I never went somewhere where the people just completely welcome you in. Schoolwise, it's a private school, a small school. I didn't know that.

"I thought it was a big school. I didn't know. They're strict on education, which I liked."

Porter, who is on pace to be the salutatorian of his class, plans to study mechanical engineering.

"This is a special student," SCC superintendant Al McFerren said. "This is not just a student who did well on the basketball court. This is a young man who did well in the classroom and never got himself into any trouble whatsoever as far being able to get along with others."

Porter, who led SCC to three consecutive state titles, made the radar of Georgetown assistant Robert Kirby at a camp at Three Rivers Community College last summer. Kirby had been a part of a national championship team at TRCC and continued to recruit Porter until he made a verbal commitment during his recent visit to the campus.

Porter said he was glad to no longer have to answer questions about where he will play next season.

"He's was kind of upset a little bit," Elnora Porter said of the constant inquiries about his future. "I was like, 'Bubba, just hold on. The only thing you can say is you don't know. I told him to calm down.'"

Porter never showed any outward signs of frustration with the process during a senior season in which he averaged almost 30 points and more than 12 rebounds a game.

"I'm just saying that with all else being equal, being around in the area as long as I have, he's about as well-prepared as any person I've ever seen go through this," McFerren said. "It didn't really matter to me, and I never pestered him or his dad about where he was going. Everybody else did, but I knew wherever it was, he was going to be successful."