By Harry King
FAYETTEVILLE — Entering the tunnel on I-540, the Blackberry vibrated and the three words visible on the screen pumped up the anticipation of watching Arkansas-Texas.
“Fortson to Return” was all that was available until the scroll key was engaged.
With Courtney Fortson at point guard, the Razorbacks are immediately better. He can deliver passes to Michael Washington, Marshawn Powell, and others inside and his ability to penetrate makes it easier for Rotnei Clarke to get an open shot outside.
That does not mean that his mere presence will transform a 7-8 team into the champion of the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference. It does mean the Razorbacks will have an opportunity to win some games they could not win otherwise.
Fortson, who last year recorded the most assists by a Razorback in 12 years, has been practicing with the team for some time and there has been speculation for about a week that he would soon return from what is best described as a self-imposed 14-game leave of absence.
His misdeeds may never become public, but it is clear that he owned up to personal problems and that the university helped him enter a program of some sort. With such outside sources involved, it was never up to coach John Pelphrey when Fortson would return. The UA quotes from Pelphrey were appropriately vague, mentioning “personal issues” and how Fortson had worked to “facilitate his return …”
The last of the Razorbacks out of the tunnel, white headband in place and long locks pulled back, Fortson was the fourth member of the starting lineup to be introduced and the reaction was as loud or louder when crowd-favorite Clarke was announced.
Immediately, the Razorbacks put the ball in Fortson’s hands and he brought it downcourt on every possession until he sat down for the first time at the 14:03. He was scoreless, but very involved.
A 49-second span midway through the first half underlined his value. Fifteen feet from the basket, he drove amongst the trees and laid it over the rim for a tie at 22. At the other end, he rebounded a Texas miss. A teammate missed and Texas went back in front before Fortson blew by the Longhorns — described by ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes as the best defensive team in the country — for another tie.
Such fearlessness can be infectious.
He was not perfect — he missed when Texas led 38-37 and 40-39 and he recorded six turnovers during his 33 minutes. He scored 19 and helped Clarke, Powell, and Washington tally 24, 18, and 14 respectively.
More wide than nimble, 290-pound Dexter Pittman hurt the Razorbacks time and again. He started the second half with a three-point play, rebounded his own miss for 53-48, and then overpowered Washington for a seven-point lead. Fortson’s bounce pass to Stef Welsh helped and so did a quick-release 3 by Clarke for 68-61. At that point, Pittman put back another miss.
Fortson delivered three passes, two on fast breaks, and Washington converted two of them into layups for 70-65. At 72-70, the Longhorns somehow avoided a turnover and Gary Johnson made a floater, plus a free throw. The margin reached 10 before a couple of baskets by Washington and Clarke’s long 3 off a Fortson pass cut it to 84-81. Twice, Texas protected a two-point lead with a basket and the final was a deceiving 96-85.
The crowd of 12,865 was the best of the year. What they saw was much more encouraging than the one-point loss to UAB on Saturday.
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Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.
