Fort Finds His Way
January 23, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Joel Coleman
Bulldog guard has worked his way back into key role.
STARKVILLE – You only get one chance to make a first impression and who could ever forget how Trey Fort exploded onto the scene as a Mississippi State Bulldog?
In this season's opener, the Jackson, Mississippi, native sank five 3-pointers, scored 21 points and led MSU to an opening-night win. He was electric. He was on fire. But in a way, he might've also done himself at least a little bit of a disservice.
"It was almost a curse that he made the shots he did that first game, because it's natural for all of us as humans to expect him to do that all the time," State head coach Chris Jans said. "That would be hard. That's a tough standard that he set his first game out as a Bulldog. He made five threes, and he looked good doing it."
By now, you know what happened next to Fort. Adversity struck. Playing time diminished. The transfer whose journey has taken him from UT Martin to Copiah Lincoln (Mississippi) Community College to Howard College down in Texas had to then adapt to life under the defensive-minded Jans and in the ultra-tough Southeastern Conference. It's been no easy task.
The process is still ongoing, but what's become apparent these last couple of weeks is that Fort is very much finding his way and his progress is making the Bulldogs deeper and better as they strive for a March run.
"I'm having a lot of fun now," Fort said. "I just thank God for the opportunity each and every time I touch the court, and the chance to be ready just to be there for my team on and off the court. If I'm on the sideline, I'm going to be there to cheer them on. When I'm on the court, I'm going to be there for them, and they're there for me as well. We give confidence to each other, and it feels good."
Fort's personal renewed confidence is apparent. He's scored 25 total points off the bench over State's last three games, including shooting an impressive 44 percent (7-for-16) from three-point range in that span.
Safe to say, Fort is living up to his name, hitting trey after trey after trey. It's not surprising teammate and All-SEC center Tolu Smith III that Fort is filling it up.
"If you don't know Trey, he's a flamethrower – he can get hot out there at any time," Smith explained. "I hang out with him a lot, and I get to see firsthand how great he can shoot the ball and just score the ball. He's an offensive threat. People have to come out and guard him. He's an asset that we need on the court every time."
The coaching staff's confidence in Fort seems to be growing as well. After playing only six combined minutes in MSU's first two conference games of the league slate, Fort has played 40 minutes over the last three contests, seeing action for at least 12 minutes in each game.
Because of the person Fort is, he's likely to get more and more opportunities as this season and his career progresses. One, because his offensive talent is undeniable, and two, because he has the makeup to keep getting better and continue to make his game more well-rounded.
"He can score the ball," Jans said. "That's what they keep track of. Either you win or lose because of the scoreboard. A lot of the other stuff, you pay attention to, but in the end, moving the scoreboard in the right direction has value. Anyone that's really watched us closely can see that he can do that.
"He's just got to continue in the other facets of the game – being strong with the ball [and] having some tension in your body on defense at all times. Being assignment correct and playing the way we're trying to play. Coming in, that really wasn't his deal. We knew that, and we thought because he's such a great kid and has such a great work ethic that we could get him on the right page pretty quickly, and it usually takes some time. I don't care how old you are. When it's new for you, regardless of if you're a four-year transfer or junior college transfer or a high school kid, it takes some time."
Fort has plenty of help as he keeps on developing. Veterans like Smith and Cameron Matthews and Shakeel Moore and the list goes on and on are right there pushing Fort along.
"He's leaned on some unbelievable teammates that have been there for him," Jans said. "I watch those guys encourage him in practice. Even if I'm on him about something, they're coming behind me and slapping him, telling him to stick with it and buy in. He's been doing it."
It certainly seems as though the best is yet to come for Fort. And if it indeed is, more big games like that first one in Maroon and White back in November are surely on the horizon.
That's good news for both Fort and Mississippi State.
"He's getting it," Jans said of Fort. "It would be a big shot in the arm for us if he could continue to have positive minutes for us."
