Toughness Personified

In the history of Arkansas basketball it would be hard to find one guy that is as gritty as Courtney Fortson. Two words best describe the game of Courtney Fortson: tough and fearless. I wanted to take a little time to place Courtney's game under a microscope and dissect what makes this 5'10 guard play like he does!

Once player of the year in Alabama, Fortson then moved on to Patterson, North Carolina, then became the starting point guard for the Arkansas Razorbacks. He has always shown an ability to play larger than he is. A Rivals recruiter said about him that he has never seen a 5'10 player rebound like Fortson. Everything that you read about Courtney made you feel like he would be a player that could lead the Hogs to another level.

With all his ability and the numbers that he put up in high school he was given the responsibility of bringing the Hogs back to a relevance in the SEC. However, the well documented suspension and off the court problems have seemed to dampen his short career thus far. This hard-nosed little guard from Alabama has had hurdles to climb, but to his credit he has rolled with the punches. Missing nearly half of his sophomore season due to suspension, Courtney took his time from the team to gather himself and take a step forward in his life.

Fortson rejoined the team January 5, 2010 against Texas and immediately you could see his presence was huge. Arkansas took the then #2 nationally ranked team to the wire at Bud Walton Arena, where Arkansas endured the defeat, but immediate improvement was noticed. Then close losses to Mississippi State at the "HUMP" and a tough loss at home to Florida bookended a home win against Alabama. Fortson played well in those games, but only once, against Alabama were the Hogs able to get the win. Then the Hogs traveled to Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky and took a beating unlike any Razorback team in the past had ever taken. The message boards called for Pelphrey's head and insulted to individual players and Arkansas sports radio call in shows made it sound like the program would never again stand up on its feet. Much like a great fighter past his prime facing a new champion, Hog fans young and old had thrown in the towel. Then, something happened January 28, 2010 in the second half at Bud Walton Arena. Mr. Fortson seeing a considerable deficit after the team "laid down" in the first half, took over the game, scoring 33 of his 35 points in the second half. This came after he twisted his ankle driving to the basket in the first half. Even with that bum ankle, Fortson was able to push this team to a new level.

His heart and will to win took a below-average Razorback team that had no leadership and no direction to a place that no Hog team has been to in quite some time, and that is sole possesion of first place in the SEC west. Fortson's heart has become infectious and he has placed this team on a small pair of shoulders. With flowing dreads and a body that looks like a defensive back, this guy has turned a team that seemed hopeless into a team that is giving Hog fans something to talk about. No matter the situation or score he wants the ball and he will keep pushing the team till the buzzer blows. Whether it's the best center inside or its the best guard in the nation outside, Fortson sees nothing but himself and the rim and he doesn't think anyone can stop him. Someday down the road we are going to look back when we are dancing again as a high seed in the NCAA tourney and we will think of how Courtney Fortson and his positive attitude single handedly brought the Hogs back into championship contention.

A young man that didn't pack it in after his suspension and didn't quit on his coach or his team, grew up and became a man. Courtney Fortson became a leader.

"If you want to see how good of a leader you are, turn around and see who is following"-John Maxwell

Courtney Fortson may be the toughest Hog that has ever graced the court. So here's a little shout out from the Sports Blitz gang, thank you for being a man and being a true Hog. When you look at the expectations that where placed on Fortson early in his career, you may wonder if Fortson is really a leader and if he has brought the Razorbacks back to relevance. I say the answer is, unequivocally, YES.

E S C A P E D: Arkansas picks up its 4th conference victory in a row

It was not pretty and it seemed like Auburn could not miss, but Arkansas found a way. Behind Courtney Fortson's 24 points (11 in overtime) the Hogs did what they had to do to win another conference ball game. The Razorbacks are a team that many left for dead, but they now lead the SEC West at the half-way point of the season.

Marshawn Powell and Courtney Fortson took the game over down the stretch. With Arkansas trailing 62-58 the Hogs kicked it in to high gear and eventually took a 67-65 lead with 4.1 seconds left in the game. Then Auburn's Tay Waller took a fade away from about 27 feet that clipped the side of the rim. Auburn grabbed the rebound falling out of bounds letting a three pointer fly, and while the shot was an air ball, Lucas Hargrove was there to grab the ball out of the air for a put back to tie the game with 1.6 seconds to go in the game to send the game to overtime.

In overtime, it was Courtney Fortson time. Fortson took the game over by taking the ball to the rack to the ice the game, or so they thought. A Stefan Welsh mental error gave the Tigers hope, but Arkansas was too tough down the stretch. Arkansas was able to escape with an 82-79 victory.

This team has such a small margin for error, but they seem to be able to get past mental errors with tough play to be able to pick up victories. Since the Kentucky blowout many have expected this team to lay down and quit, but to the team and coaches credit they have not. Now at least they are in the conversation for an NCAA tournament birth. A team that has won the SEC West has never missed the NCAA tournament. Should they be expected to be able to make the NCAA tournament? No, but to their credit they have made it in the realm of possibility. For this team to make any post-season outside of the SEC tournament should be considered a success. Any post-season! Even the NIT.

Weekend Quick Hits

It's Super Bowl weekend and there are many story-lines to go along with the game. My favorites are obviously Colts related, as I did pick them as my pre-season SB champ. I just hope my pick beats Brad's, 'cause I'd never hear the end of that one! I'm just glad we're good enough to both have a horse in this race!

My quick hits for Super Bowl weekend:

First, we hear about the severity of the ankle injury to Colts Pro-Bowl DE Dwight Freeney and how he's rehabbing in an attempt to play. Teammates say Freeney has "Wolverine-like" healing abilities, but with a grade three sprain that includes a complete ligament tear, there's no telling how he will respond on game day.

Second, many people are picking the Saints to win, most counting Freeney and the Colts defense out. I don't understand that logic, but I do understand that the Saints prolific offense will be the best the Colts have seen all year. The same goes for the Saints, because MVP Peyton Manning is no slouch. I'm hoping the Colts can pull it off (and I expect them to).

Third, apparently the Colt-blue blood still runs through former coach Tony Dungy's veins. When discussing the Super Bowl match-up and the opinions of so many fans picking the Saints, Dungy picked his Colts in a blowout:

I'm excited to see if Dungy is right, but the Saints offense may be too high-powered to allow a blowout.

I'm sure we will debate the game on The Sports Blitz next Thursday, but I am anxious to hear your opinion.

So in the words of Tony Kornheiser, who ya got?

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Arkansas, the resurrection

If honesty ruled the day I would tell you that if I had an internet connection at my house last week I would have blogged about Arkansas basketball being dead. If you follow this blog you have seen my post that said I was a Pelphrey supporter, but times have been tough on this Pelphrey supporter. In fact, I sent Mark (another Pelphrey supporter) a text message during the most recent Arkansas vs. Mississippi State game and said that I was off the Pelphrey bandwagon. It was then that Courtney Fortson reeled off 33 points and Arkansas beat a Mississippi State team that has owned them over the last few years, but there was no need to get excited. Right?

Arkansas then goes to 18th ranked Ole Miss, a place that some of Nolan's best teams had trouble winning. I chalked it up as a loss. They won. Then Arkansas goes into Georgia. Yes, Georgia was 1-5 in the league but if you look closer the Bulldogs have played tough teams really well, but just couldn't pull it out at the end. I chalked it up as another Razorback loss. They won. So here we sit, Arkansas has pulled to 11-11 on the season and 4-3 in the conference, and here's the kicker; the Hogs are in 1st place in the SEC West.

Could this be a resurrection of Arkansas basketball? Arkansas has a chance to really do some damage in the SEC with it's upcoming schedule looking like this:

Auburn home
LSU home
Alabama away
South Carolina home
Auburn away
LSU away

Now this is unlikely, but what if Arkansas wins all six of those games? That would make them 17-11 and 10-3. Possibly even 5-1 or 4-2 would work, obviously you can do the math. These games are the key to the season. A good stretch by the Hogs and they will play in some kind of post-season, which would be considered a miracle. It would likely take a 10-6 or 11-5 conference mark to even get them in consideration for the NCAA tournament, but after what this team and coaches have been through, any kind of post-season outside of the SEC tournament gives Hog fans hope for a bright future on the hardwood.

Upcoming events

Shawn alluded to our plans for the next couple weeks in his last post about national signing day. I will confirm that we will host a podcast on Wednesday evening for those interested in the class the Hogs sign.

As of Tuesday, the SEC owns 4 of the top 5 spots in the ESPNU recruiting class rankings, so the correlation between success on the recruiting trail and success on the field is very strong.

The Razorbacks started slowly in recruiting the 2010 class, but appear to be closing strong. We will see tomorrow who flips and who surprises us by signing on the dotted line to be a Razorback.

My thoughts are that a few people we don't expect will become Hogs, and most likely someone will flip on them to go elsewhere... Scott Smith, the Texas Tech commit, appears to be leaning back toward TT after many predicted he would ask out of his LOI when Tommy Tuberville decided not to retain defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeil. I hear Smith will enroll at TT in the summer and become a Red Raider.

Junction City DL Byran Jones has expressed high interest in the Razorbacks and the Auburn Tigers, but I feel confident he will be a Hog.

DT LaCraig Brown- Baylor-Arkansas-Baylor-Arkansas-Baylor-ARKANSAS... He'll be a Hog.

USC WR Joe McKnight's younger brother, Jonathon is down to Arkansas and Arizona... I see it as 50/50 (duh!), but with our situation at DB, immediate playing time may await him at Arkansas, or at the very least competition for it. My guess, proximity to home wins out and McKnight is a Hog.

No, Arkansas won't get everyone they target. Here's a list of probable losses:

5-star OL Shon Coleman is said to be very high on the Hogs, but I feel his commitment to Auburn will stick, I hope I'm wrong.

Tulsa DT Calvin Barnett will probably stick with his original commitment to Oklahoma State.

This just in, Arkansas' #1 recruit, RB Michael Dyer will not be a Hog. Shocker. It bears repeating because athletes with Dyer's skills and notoriety don't come around often, and a miss on a player of this caliber is always tough. Good luck at Auburn Michael, I hope you lose every game of your career (channeling my inner Shawn Caldwell!).

Tomorrow, we'll see how I did and how the Razorback 2010 class stacks up to the other great classes of the SEC. Let's hope it is a favorable comparison after all the dust settles.

The second season

February 3rd is the day when coaches build for the future, and the day that the hardcore college fan refers to as "Christmas in February."

National signing day is the day where the cutthroat buisness of recruiting comes to a close and you see the results from your staff's hard work. This short piece is setting up our signing day special.

The Sports Blitz and Hog Talk will go into depth about how we feel the class breaks down. We will also do a podcast about signing day where we will break down each and every player. Mark, Brad, and I will research each prospect and put up a player by player breakdown and give our opinion on each player and how they will help the program.

Committments come and committments go but when the LOI is sent in it makes you a part of the team that recieves your signature on the dotted line. How will Arkansas fare verses the rest of the SEC? How will we "close" on Wednesday?

Which player could make or break this class? These are questions we will try to answer! So, check back on this blog for the rest of this week, and also give our podcast a listen. I think you will enjoy our research!