Arkansas coach John Pelphrey met with the media Monday morning in Bud Walton Arena to discuss his team’s Tuesday night home tilt against No. 4 Oklahoma.
He spoke about the “tremendous respect” he had for the Sooners and coach Jeff Capel and said that Arkansas would have to overachieve if it wanted to hand Oklahoma its first loss. He raved about the skills of Oklahoma 6-foot-10 sophomore forward Blake Griffin, who many think could be picked first in the 2009 NBA Draft.
But he wouldn’t sell the rest of the Sooners’ starting lineup short. As for forward Taylor Griffin and guards Austin Johnson, Willie Warren and Tony Crocker, Pelphrey said, “When they go to figure up end of season (Big 12) awards, these guys will be on the list. They’ll be in the conversation.”
Pelphrey later commented on injured freshman Jason Henry, saying he’d know much more about the 6-6 guard’s status after Henry underwent arthroscopic surgery at about 3 p.m. this afternoon.
Henry injured his right knee during one of Arkansas’ two practices last Friday. He tried to continue through practice and even showed up intending to play Saturday in the Razorbacks’ 95-56 win over Northwestern State (La.). But Henry’s knee “kept locking up on him,” trainer Dave England said.
England said Henry needed to have some loose cartilage removed from the knee. A successful surgery, he said, would keep Henry out only two to three weeks.
Also, freshman point guard Courtney Fortson returns to the starting lineup Tuesday night after a one-game hiatus because of an undisclosed violation of team rules. Fortson’s absence allowed junior guard Stefan Welsh to start after opening up Arkansas’ two previous contests on the bench. Welsh responded with a career-high 27-point effort Saturday night against the Demons.
When asked, though, Pelphrey declined to say whether Welsh or sophomore guard Marcus Britt would start alongside Fortson, freshman guard Rotnei Clarke, junior forward Michael Washington and freshman forward Michael Sanchez. Pelphrey said both Welsh and Britt would see increased minutes with Henry out — just like in Saturday’s game.
