Could Phil Forte Redshirt This Season?

Phil Forte has take just 10 three-pointers on the season thus far. The reason, of course, is that he has only played in three games. Forte injured his elbow against Towson back in November and hasn’t been seen on the court in a uniform since then.

Travis Ford told the Tulsa World recently that a redshirt for No. 13 is in play.

“It’s been talked about just because the option is there,” Ford said. “I don’t think it’s fair to him to say ‘alright, we’re going to do that,’ when, if that’s the case, then you may not rehab it quite as aggressively. But you want to make the best decision for Phil Forte. The smartest decision, whenever that comes.”

He added that this has sort of escalated from where they thought it would be.

“I haven’t been told it’s a season-ending injury,” Ford said. “But it could be headed that way at this point. But when it happened, that’s not what I was told.”

Redshirt rules are pretty clear that the injury has to be season-ending and you can’t play in more than 30 percent of a team’s games. Both rules would (theoretically) apply. I trust that Ford will do the right thing, but … wouldn’t it be better for job security to keep Forte out? You can point at this lost season and say, “… but I was missing my best guy.”

Also, how great would it be if we got another year of both Forte and his football-playing counterpart, J.W. Walsh?