We’ve known for months now that some suspensions were coming to the Arkansas Basketball team, and today the details on those suspensions were released by the University of Arkansas Media Relations department.
Freshman forward Glenn Bryant will miss two games due to violations of team rules, Junior Marcus Britt will miss six games following two separate violations of team rules, and walk-on Nick Mason will miss the entire fall semester.
Stefan Welsh and Courtney Fortson have been suspended indefinitely due to (you guessed it) violations of team rules. Welsh and Fortson’s suspensions are unrelated, and a timetable for either of their returns has not been determined.
Though the release does not specify the specific reasons for the suspensions, none of them come as a surprise. We’ve known for weeks that three players were involved in an incident at a Phi Gamma Delta fraternity party early on Aug. 27, and that suspensions were forthcoming. We’ve know that Marcus Britt was arrested for a DWI in the offseason. We’ve known that Courtney Fortson was in trouble over a Tweet, and that Stefan Welsh has been in coach John Pelphrey’s doghouse all summer.
Now we have a little better idea of the consequences.
According to a news release from the Arkansas Media Relations department, “All suspensions will be served concurrently starting with the Alcorn State game on Friday, Nov. 13. In addition to the game suspensions, as previously outlined, team members have participated in supplemental mandatory educational programming, community service requirements and additional conditioning and training regimens.”
Pelphrey also was quoted in the statement. “We will continue to address disciplinary matters in a straight-forward manner and take action when players do not meet the expectations of conduct required of our student-athletes. Our program remains committed to representing the University of Arkansas, individually and collectively, in an appropriate manner,” Pelphrey said.
So, there you go.
