Pelphrey’s penalty box
Posted on Sunday, December 7, 2008
FAYETTEVILLE — When three South Alabama starters missed curfew after a game in Denver two years ago, Jaguars Coach John Pelphrey suspended them for the next game against Louisiana-Monroe.
It was a matchup of Sun Belt Conference division leaders and ESPN was televising the game. South Alabama was at home and on a roll with six consecutive victories.
But none of that mattered to Pelphrey.
“I was down in John’s office, and I wasn’t going to tell him what to do, but I said, ‘John we’ve got 10, 000 seats in our arena out there. Those kids can run a lot of steps at 5 o’clock in the morning,’” South Alabama Athletic Director Joe Gottfried recently recalled.
“He just smiled and said, ‘No, we’re going to do it this way,’ and he suspended those starters and we ended up winning that game.”
Without suspended starters Carlos Smith, Demetric Bennett and Daon Merritt, the Jaguars beat the Pioneers 64-57 and went on to win the Sun Belt regularseason title and play in the NIT.
“I think some other coaches in the same situation might have looked the other way and done it differently, found a way around it and played those kids John suspended,” Gottfried said. “But the point about John Pelphrey is, he’s going to do it his way and he’s going to be an excellent disciplinarian.”
Arkansas’ players have found that out since Pelphrey was hired as the Razorbacks’ coach April 9, 2007, after five seasons at South Alabama. Pelphrey has suspended 10 Arkansas players, including three this season, for Red-White, exhibition and regular-season games. “Coach has standards,” Razorbacks junior guard Stefan Welsh said. “He has team policies that he believes in and that he wants us to believe in. “ You’ve got to live up to what’s expected of you from our coaching staff and what’s expected of you from the University of Arkansas. “ If you can’t do that, then Coach will do what he has to do.”
LENGTHY LIST Welsh, Patrick Beverley and Marcus Britt were suspended by Pelphrey for an exhibition game in Cancun, Mexico, last year after they were late for a team bus. Beverley, Gary Ervin and Michael Washington were suspended for last year’s Red-White game for reasons to do with academics.
Two senior starters were suspended last season: Sonny Weems missed Arkansas’ game against Oral Roberts for academic reasons, and Charles Thomas missed a home game against Mississippi State for reasons that weren’t disclosed.
Arkansas won both games.
“Coach is definitely a disciplinarian, but at the same time, he has your best interests at heart,” Welsh said. “It’s not just about basketball to him. It’s about the game of life.
“ He wants to make sure you’re growing as a person as well as a player.”
Pelphrey suspended freshman guards Courtney Fortson and Jason Henry this season for the Red-White game for undisclosed reasons and held Fortson out of the exhibition opener against Campbellsville.
Henry then was suspended for three regular-season games before returning against Texas Southern on Wednesday night and leading the Razorbacks with 19 points off the bench.
Pelphrey wasn’t specific about Henry’s violation of team rules, but Henry said after the Texas Southern game the lesson he learned was “never miss class again.”
Henry said he understood why Pelphrey suspended him.
“He’s helping me be a better person and grow up,” Henry said. “I’m young. I needed what he did.”
Fortson has started every game this season and is averaging team highs of 14. 7 points and 5. 6 assists.
Freshman guard Rotnei Clarke said Pelphrey’s decision to suspend Fortson at the season’s start got the attention of every Razorback.
“That shows he’s not going to favor any certain player,” Clarke said. “No matter who you are, he’s going to discipline you like he thinks you need to be disciplined.”
The latest suspended Arkansas player is junior forward Montrell McDonald, who has missed the past two games and isn’t practicing with the team. Pelphrey has referred to McDonald’s status as an indefinite suspension for violation of team rules.
“As you go through this thing, you figure out that it’s so hard to win anyway, and you have no chance if you’re not disciplined,” Pelphrey said. “I think holding players accountable is part of my responsibility. I think if we can learn some lessons now, maybe we won’t have to learn them later. “ As I tell the players, I don’t believe you or we can be as good as we need to be unless you fully give yourself to the basketball team and what’s going on.”
TOUGH LOVE Pelphrey said he makes two promises to every player he coaches and recruits. “I promise I’ll do everything in my power to help you reach your potential,” Pelphrey said. “And then I promise that I’ll do everything I can to make the right decisions by the basketball team, even when it’s not popular. “ I think I’ve got to protect you as an individual, and I’ve got to protect the team.” Pelphrey said he takes no enjoyment from suspending a player.
“It is hard because at the end of the day, you’re taking basketball away from them,” he said. “That’s what means the most to them.”
Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long said he appreciates Pelphrey’s strong stand on discipline and supports him fully.
“He sets standards, and he lets his players know what those standards are, and if they don’t meet them, then he’s not shy about disciplining them,” Long said. “That’s what I want in a coach. He and I see eye to eye on that.
“ We all understand winning is important, but there really is something bigger than that when you’re working with young people and trying to help them understand what it means to work and live in society.”
Arkansas assistant Rob Evans, a former head coach at Ole Miss and Arizona State, said Pelphrey is doing what it takes to establish the right culture in a program.
“John is letting these guys know there is a way you need to conduct yourself on and off the court, and if you don’t conduct yourself like that, there are repercussions,” Evans said. “John also is trying to help the kid when he disciplines him. Maybe the kid doesn’t see it right now, but he’ll see it when he gets older.” Pelphrey said his sense of discipline is based on what he learned from his parents growing up. He’s also added to his philosophy from the coaches he’s played for and worked with, including Eddie Sutton, Rick Pitino and Billy Donovan. “I would like to think that we’re fair and hopefully we’re communicating with the players,” Pelphrey said. “They have to know that if you step out of the parameters and the guidelines that are laid out for you, then don’t surprised if you get disciplined. It’s going to happen.”
Pelphrey smiled when asked about suspending the three starters at South Alabama before the game against Louisiana-Monroe.
“It wasn’t a popular decision,” he said. “But that’s one of the best memories I have, of the way our young men responded and played, and how we won.”
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