COMMENTARY: Pelphrey Risks Record

By HARRY KING | hking@arkansasnews.com

Posted: November 12, 2009 at 3:28 a.m.

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The W-L record of Arkansas' basketball team is going to take a hit for the sake of something more important.

Good for Razorbacks coach John Pelphrey for being upright in his suspension of various players and refusing to make a sham out of the process.

Handing out suspensions to five players, Pelphrey could have staggered the bans to finagle a lineup. He chose otherwise and now his starting point guard for who knows how long is freshman Julysses Nobles. A few months removed from high school, his first start will be Friday night vs. Alcorn State and his second will be against preseason Top 20 Louisville in St. Louis on Tuesday.

Nobles' rapid promotion is a direct result of the indefinite suspensions of sophomore Courtney Fortson and senior Stefan Welsh. Fortson started all but one game last year and his average of 5.9 assists per game was the best in the country by a freshman. In Southeastern Conference play, he was the Razorbacks' leading scorer, averaging 15 points per game.

Fortson did not start in the Razorbacks' two exhibition games, presumably a punishment for an inappropriate comment he posted on his Twitter account while police were investigating a complaint from an 18-year-old female who said she had been raped at a fraternity house. No charges were filed and the case is under review by a special prosecutor.

Junior guard Marcus Britt, freshman Glenn Bryant, and walk-on Nick Mason were suspended by Pelphrey for a specific number of games, apparently for their participation in what happened at the fraternity house.

What else Fortson did or didn't do is vague, falling under the category of "personal issues." Whatever is involved, Fortson approached Pelphrey, the coach said.

"This is not something we're going to resolve over a weekend or whatever," Pelphrey said. His statement that the coaches are "going to support" Fortson "and try to get him better" opens the door to wide-ranging speculation.

Welsh could have started at point guard if Pelphrey had chosen to stagger the suspensions of Welsh and Fortson. Instead, he chose to make them concurrent.

Welsh's suspension involved two violations of team rules, the UA said.

If there is a silver lining in this mess, it is that freshman Marshawn Powell and junior college transfers Jemal Farmer and Delvon Johnson will have opportunities galore to play and progress. Powell figured to start alongside Michael Washington and Farmer, but the fact that Michael Sanchez is sidelined with foot injuries means even more minutes for Powell and others.

In turn, hopefully, the Razorbacks will come to appreciate the value of getting the ball inside.

With only six scholarship players immediately available, the Razorbacks will be in jeopardy, even against Alcorn State. With or without Fortson and-or Welsh, Arkansas was not going to beat Louisville, which has two starters back from a team that was a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and won three games before losing to Michigan State.

The return of Bryant for Appalachian State on Nov. 20 and Britt for Oklahoma on Dec. 2 will help some. Along the way, the Razorbacks could lose a game or two to some teams they would be expected to defeat.

Pelphrey knew that when handed out the suspensions. And he didn't flinch.

Harry King is a sports columnist in Little Rock for Stephens Media's Arkansas News Bureau.

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