By my count, there are only three certainties in life: death, taxes and Razorback basketball players serving a suspension.
As you probably know by now, Marshawn Powell's frustrating sophomore season grew a little more frustrating yesterday, when head coach John Pelphrey announced that the forward has been suspended indefinitely. As is usually the case, Pelphrey didn't specify why Powell has been suspended, but did say it was not because of the Christmas Day traffic accident in which Powell was involved.
The disciplinary action comes a week after Powell only played one minute during the Hogs' victory over Texas Southern. Powell's playing time has been limited this season as he recovers from offseason foot surgery, but Pelphrey made clear that Powell's cameo appearance against Texas Southern was due to his attitude and not his injury. Hopefully, Marshawn's stay on the sidelines will be a brief one, but his sudden placement in Pelphrey's doghouse has been one of the season's most surprising developments, especially considering how hard a worker he appeared to be last year.
Of course, Pelphrey suspending someone is hardly surprising: By our count, Powell is approximately the 343rd player that the head coach has suspended during his three-plus seasons in Fayetteville. OK, that's a slight exaggeration: our friends at AS360 say Powell is the 16th player among the 32 that have suited up for multiple games under Pelphrey to be suspended.
"I do believe that one of the greatest forms of love is to show discipline," Pelphrey said after the Hogs' Wednesday night blowout of North Carolina A&T, according to AS360.
In the meantime, we're investigating reports that Pel's kids have spent the last 243 days grounded. We'll keep you posted.