LIKE IT IS: Fortson’s me-first manner won’t be missed

— It was really hard to get a handle on what Courtney Fortson was really like.

No one will ever dispute his incredible quickness on the basketball court, but most will never question that his game was all about his game.

Some Arkansas Razorbacks fans liked to call in to radio shows and say the Hogs couldn’t win without him, but his record as a point guard at Arkansas was 21-27 overall and 9-22 in SEC play.

However, Fortson had the great ability to sit on the stage with a microphone after a loss and say all the right things. He’d take blame; he’d say we have to play harder and smarter.

Then they wouldn’t.

Coming out of prep school, Fortson was the No. 9-ranked point guard in the nation and No. 60 player overall, but he was very lightly recruited. The Alabama native was not sought after by the Crimson Tide or Auburn.

Part of the lack of attention was most schools weren’t sure he’d pass the NCAA Clearinghouse, but John Pelphrey decided to take a chance.

Fortson finally was admitted and when he took the court it looked as if the Hogs had won the lottery. Fortson defied the odds, finding unorthodox ways to get his shot off in the paint, and sometimes into the basket. Then during his freshman year there was talk of a blow-up between him and an assistant coach in Baton Rouge after the LSU game. Two weeks later, he was suspended for the Kentucky game.

He started this season with a 14-game suspension and the hope by all concerned that he’d learned some valuable lessons.

When he returned he was selfish to the point it wasdetrimental to the team’s efforts.

Rotnei Clarke would pop open for a three-pointer, but Fortson would go to the hole in hopes of drawing a foul.

Michael Washington would spin out of the block wide open and Fortson would go around him and try to score.

Oh, there were times he could make everyone shake their heads in amazement as he made what appeared to be an impossible pass, but he just didn’t do it often enough.

When he announced he was declaring for the NBA Draft, no one was surprised, except maybe the NBA.

The initial announcement said he had not signed with an agent, but two days laterhe did.

When the UA put out the release he was leaving, it was nine days before the end of the semester.

When reached last week by Shawn Arnell for a radio interview, he was in his car driving to Houston. He had left the school and his classwork behind.

By not finishing the semester he will hurt Arkansas’ Academic Progress Report, which is already below the NCAA standard.

Leaving the UA in that kind of situation might be the most selfish move he’s made since putting on the Razorbacks uniform.

He claimed during the interview he was in good academic standing until he left, but said he might pick up some hours this summer.

And he might go in the first round of the NBA Draft, too.

There is absolutely no doubt if he can learn to pass first and shoot later, he has a shot to play professionally. But that might be asking a lot of Fortson, apparently like asking him to finish the semester, which he was asked to do by coaches and administrators.

The UA will have to suffer the consequences, but there is one thing it can do, and should do: In the future, don’t run pictures of any former players in the media guide if they hurt the school more than they helped it.

Sports, Pages 29 on 04/25/2010