Since the Razorback Central Web site likes to bury the biggest stories (I really don’t know how that happens) I figure I need to post our Courtney Fortson story on the blog.

Ryan Malashock and I teamed up to put this together. Ryan was able to get in touch with Fortson’s mom tonight and got a few more details regarding coach John Pelphrey’s decision to suspend Fortson indefinitely.

Anyway, here is the story in full:

Fortson’s mother, Lorraine, provided a few more details when contacted by The Morning News on Thursday.

She attended the Auburn game and said Pelphrey told her afterward he was considering “disciplining” her son because of some recent attitude issues. Fortson called and told her of the suspension early Thursday.

Lorraine Fortson said her son doesn’t think he should be suspended, but believes he will remain positive and benefit from it. She hopes it will last for just one game and is confident the relationship between Pelphrey and her son won’t be strained because of the suspension.

“This right here is what might make him a better player, definitely as far as his attitude on the floor,” Lorraine Fortson said. “He’ll never stop trying to pump up his teammates and be a leader, but he sees he needs to change some things. He understands that.

“Everyone needs to remember, he’s just a freshman. He’s under a lot of pressure. He came in as the starting point guard right away, as one of the team’s leaders, so that’s a whole lot of pressure to have on you as a young player.”

She said she’d be shocked if her son reacted in a negative way to the suspension, even if he doesn’t totally agree with or understand Pelphrey’s reasoning.

“I think he might have needed this done to him so he could get a reality check,” Fortson said. “Sometimes kids need a reality check. But I guarantee you he’ll come out of this a warrior. He’ll learn from this.”

It’s clear Fortson has been Arkansas’ most valuable player as a freshman. He recorded just the second triple-double in school history in December and was the catalyst of Arkansas’ upset wins against Oklahoma and Texas.

Without him, Arkansas is down to eight scholarship players. The Razorbacks will count on Stefan Welsh, Rotnei Clarke and Marcus Britt in the backcourt. All three will likely share point guard duties Saturday.

“It’s going to be hard (without Fortson),” forward Michael Sanchez said. “I just think that we’ve got some guys who are going to need to pick up the slack. … We have more than enough to win (Saturday). We’ve had more than enough this past year. We’ve just got to finish it out.”

The Razorbacks began preparation for the Wildcats on Thursday, and Fortson didn’t practice.

When asked what it will take for Fortson to earn his way back, Pelphrey listed his expectations for everyone.

“I expect the Razorbacks to get out there and play hard,” he said. “I expect the Razorbacks to have an unbelievable attitude, to encourage teammates, to understand what it’s all about to be part of a team. To do your job and to handle adversity. I think we should act a certain way whether we’re winning or whether we’re losing.

“Do I understand there’s going to be some challenges with that? I certainly do. I’m not perfect and neither are the young men I coach. But that doesn’t mean we can’t work at it very, very hard and do the best we can.”

Arkansas will have to work even harder now to end its four-game losing streak and eight-game losing skid against the Wildcats. Pelphrey acknowledged it Thursday, but said the decision to suspend Fortson was necessary.

Pelphrey also believes his team is capable of upsetting Kentucky even without its point guard.

“You never like to be without one of your better players,” Pelphrey said. “I think with this basketball team, (being) without any one of them is not good.

“But I still believe that when we line up on Saturday, there’s going to be an opportunity for us to win.”