Seldom Played in Fayetteville, Arkansas State’s Derrian Ford has reimagined himself in Jonesboro
“Derrian Ford Caps Arkansas’ #2 Ranked Signing Class” read the headline on ArkansasRazorbacks.com, the article festooned with a feature photo of Ford himself. His prep-school accolades were impressive: A four star athlete in the eyes of 247Composite, Rivals, ESPN and 247Sports. The twice named Gatorade Arkansas Player of the Year. The 2021 Class 4A Player of the Year by the Arkansas Basketball Coaches Association. The Magnolia native was part of a signing class that included 5-stars Nick Smith, Anthony Black and Jordan Walsh – all three would be drafted into the NBA. Greatness was destined for Derrian Ford.
And why not? The 6’4, 214 pound guard had gained spectacular reviews, including raves from Paul Biancardi, the national recruiting director for ESPN. “He has displayed effectiveness both inside and beyond the arc with his jumper,” was his analysis. “He creates space well for himself and can read the floor and make the assist.” It seemed that Ford would be right at home in Arkansas’ over-stuffed roster of five-star athletes, McDonald’s All-Americans and projected NBA Draft picks.
However, instant success was not in the offering at Fayetteville, where Ford averaged a mere 3.8 minutes a game for the Razorbacks. He bucketed 15 points and pocketed 10 boards for the season. After a single season, the tags had begun to appear on his game: he was a great defender, he wasn’t a shooter.
At season’s end, he considered staying in Fayeteville another season, but perhaps after seeing his head coach add more experienced guards from the transfer portal, Ford chose to depart the program. Ford announced his decision in a Tweet: “Arkansas will always be my home and hold a special place in my heart. After much prayer and consultation with God, my family, and the coaching staff, I have made the decision to enter the transfer portal.
Where would he go? Though his freshman season wasn’t prolific, Ford’s high school credentials were still impressive. Reportedly, he had no shortage of options, with Sports Illustrated mentioning “Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Missouri, Mississippi State, Florida, Auburn, Vanderbilt and Alabama … Kansas, Houston and Baylor” as potential landing spots.
“Arkansas fans had better hope and pray Ford heads out of conference because the last thing the Hogs need is a Top 100 player with a chip on his shoulder showing up on the schedule twice a year,” ominously warned Kent Smith, the article’s author. “Wherever Ford ends up, there’s one thing that’s almost a guarantee: His time won’t be silent like it was at Arkansas. Anyone who has seen his non-stop workout videos that are flooding social media knows he’s a man on a mission”
One can only imagine Kent Smith’s relief when Derrian Ford chose to transfer to in-state program Arkansas State. “Derrian Ford’s Shocking Final Destination After Transfer Portal” read the headline from Kent Smith’s publication. Newly minted A-State head basketball coach Bryan Hodgson seemed a bit less shocked.
“I’m going to try to put in my best effort, play to the best of my ability,” said Ford upon his commitment to Arkansas State, “and ultimately, win a championship.”
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Expectations
Much like his arrival to Fayetteville, the expectations were high in Jonesboro, where Arkansas State had just hired Alabama assistant Bryan Hodgson to head the men’s basketball team. Like Ford, Hodgson too had tags – he was a supernatural recruiter, but he had never helmed a team. Ford wasn’t Hodgson’s only coup. He snagged A-State legacy player Freddy Hicks Jr. from Tarleton and versatile forward Dyondre Dominguez from Massachusetts. Impressively, he convinced rising stars and Mike Balado-era recruits Caleb Fields, Terrence Ford and Izaiyah Nelson to stay. The man confirmed that he could, indeed, recruit.
Everybody, including Ford, would be settling into what amounted to a new program, with a new coach running a new system featuring a roster of largely new players. Even with so much firepower on the roster, it was generally assumed that Ford would be among the starting five. And the popular opinion was correct – the season opened with Derrian Ford starting at guard for Arkansas State, and he was finally granted the minutes he craved. He could show the world that not only could he defend, but he could shoot, too.
It wasn’t an instant transformation to stardom. For his first four games of the season, Ford averaged 7.5 points. In his next two, he bucketed zero. The goose eggs seemed to spur him somewhat, when he produced scoring outbursts of 14, 16, and 12 – before settling into an extended period of single digit outputs. On the floor, he was just another guy (albeit a very talented one). The promise of dominance had yet to flower.
Something invisible to the naked eye clicked in a conference match-up with Georgia Southern, when Ford not only recorded 15 points, but a solid seven rebounds. “I challenged him,” said Hodgson after the game. “I told him there’s no reason that a guy like him can’t grab seven boards a game.”
It was an element to Ford’s game that, considering his sturdy build, seems obvious now. Though often set up outside for three-point opportunities, Ford bears the power to rumble into the paint and shoulder his way to rebound opportunities. For his last five games, Ford has averaged 6 rebounds and is the fourth leading rebounder on the team.
With the boards came the scores. In his last five games, Ford is average nearly 12 points per game – including a season high 23 buckets against South Alabama – by exhibiting danger from both the perimeter and the paint. With Freddy Hicks recovering from ailment and injury, and Buffalo transfer LaQuill Hardnett battling an ankle injury, Ford’s offensive production has become a critical addition to the box score. Now that Hicks as returned to the line-up, Ford’s game has only become more damaging to opponents.
Bryan Hodgson sees a player in Ford that needed the minutes to mature his game.
“You gotta remember,” says Coach Hodgson, “(Ford) is athletically still like a Freshman. He didn’t really play meaningful minutes at all for Arkansas. So none of his basketball was played in pressure situations last year.
“I think he’s just getting more comfortable game by game.”
It’s easy to look past Ford’s youth – after all, he’s got an NFL build and years of statewide acclaim. But it’s true – for all intents and purposes, Ford is basically a Freshman who (like everyone else on the team) needed to discover where they fit in Hodgson’s solar system.
The Ceiling Is Higher
When the Sun Belt released its all-conference team selections, the Red Wolves saw Caleb Fields earn a first team selection, and bulk-scoring guard Tarn Todd merit third-team status. Derrian Ford’s name was nowhere to be found. The Sun Belt named T.J. Bickerstaff of James Madison the conference “Newcomer of the Year,” which is well deserved.
The ceiling for Ford is much higher than for Bickerstaff, who as a graduate student has played his last year of college basketball. Ford is still acquiring skills, discovering abilities, and growing as a player. He has all the time in the world to develop.
PHOTO CREDITS: Mine
Howlraiser 