Hogs' Charles Balentine Was Hero to Kid Who Never Saw Him Play

Shot to beat Michael Jordan in Pine Bluff echoes through time across Arkansas

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Aug 3, 2023 12:03 PM EDT

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Having grown up in Arkansas and covered college and pro sports for 25 years now, I have been privileged to bear witness to a lot of the highs and lows when it comes to the Razorbacks, especially individual moments. However, one moment that stands out to me, I never saw.

Former Arkansas forward Charles Balentine sits on the closest edge of Razorback history as a player can be without me being able to recall having actually seen him. Yet, when news of his passing trickled out yesterday, I could picture his most iconic moment as a Razorback as clear as day.

Balentine played for Eddie Sutton's final teams at Arkansas. My only memories of Sutton is a radio broadcast mentioning Joe Kleine as my dad and I unloaded the boat for a day of snatching crappie and anything else that would bite a jig out of Belcoe Lake just east of Dumas. Other than that, my only first-hand memory is my dad saying something to his brothers about Sutton saying he would have crawled to Kentucky and everyone agreeing Frank Broyles ran him off. Apparently, down in Southeast Arkansas, the perception of Broyles running coaches off was rather common because the same thing was said when Ken Hatfield left the football team for Clemson a few years later. However, history suggests the horrible way Arkansas fans treated Hatfield probably had a lot to do with that departure, plus, Clemson had a national title and numerous 10+ win seasons.

My experience of Balentine was pretty much zero until around 1990. You see, my parents had a coffee table/foot rest from the time they got married that looked similar to every other piece of furniture people had in the late '70s and early '80s. It had huge varnished wooden arms in either end, perfect for removing teeth and brain cells should anyone trip racing the dog through the house. Large cushions filled either side covered in velvety fabric with images of what my mind could only process as old farm carts with broken wagon wheels laying here and there. In the middle was a heavy slab of wood made up of several varnished 2x4s held together by a couple of pieces of wood on the bottom. It was where the coasters were located because you'd rather face a pit of snakes than set a drink directly onto any of the furniture in my mother's living room, and a brownish gold glass ashtray even though neither of my parents smoked.

I don't recall knowing the giant slab of wood in the middle could be lifted. That would have required my younger self to be strong enough to lift the massive family Bible that sat on top of it first which was 10 times the size of any normal Bible. Then, it would have to occur to me after years of growing even stronger that the table top portion of this piece of furniture that rivaled the weight of modern cars and was the terror of toes everywhere could be opened.

However, one day I tried to lift it up from the middle to move it while scratching the living room floor as little as possible. I had clipped it while diving onto the couch and needed to move it back into its perfect 180 degree angle. Surprisingly, it lifted just a tad. That seemed odd, so I did it again and it became clear the lid could be removed to reveal some sort of secret compartment. So, I moved the Bible, coasters, ash tray and the latest edition of the Eagle Democrat onto one of the cushions and lifted it just enough to be able to swing one end over onto the cushion.

Inside were a few of my parents' yearbooks and a newspaper clipping. This same space would later include the sports section of the Arkansas Democrat from the morning after Nolan Richardson led the Razorbacks to the national championship in basketball, but at this point, the only newspaper content was a neatly clipped article from a Razorback game against North Carolina.

The first thing that stood out to me was Arkansas once played Michael Jordan. That coffee table was opened at the early height of Jordan hype. If you were considered wealthy in our town, you either had Reebok pumps or Air Jordans. I owned neither, but didn't care either even though my friends seemed to think I should. Jordan and Spike Lee had recently teamed up for the Mars Blackmon commercials for Air Jordans and the "Be Like Mike" Gatorade ad series was just days around the corner from airing.

Our parents were shouting "Bird for three," but we were driving to the hoop and pulling up jumpers from the free throw line with our tongues hanging out because that's how Jordan did it. I couldn't believe Jordan once played against Arkansas.

The second thing that stood out is the game took place in Pine Bluff at the Convention Center. This was at a time when the University of Arkansas still recognized it has fans in South Arkansas, so an effort was made to not only acknowledge them with appearances by coaches here and there, but by playing an annual game in Pine Bluff. At the time, Jefferson County was a national basketball hub. The King Cotton Classic where greats like Duke's Bobby Hurley, Cal's Jason Kidd, and Razorback legend Corliss Williamson played as rising high school superstars in one of the first tournaments to be televised nationally, was played annual at the Convention Center. My dad took me to see Hurley's St. Anthony team from New Jersey do things a high school team shouldn't be able to do in that building.

Just a couple of years prior, I joined my 4th grade classmates for a trip to the Shriner's Circus there. Of course, we had to wait for a bit in the parking lot to go in because the basketball game between Arkansas and Baylor was close. I couldn't believe I, a kid who grew up among the tall pines and tomato fields of Bradley County, had once walked in the same building as Michael Jordan.

Then, as I began to read through the clipping, I had to immediately crash into the couch. Not only had Arkansas played Michael Jordan [not North Carolina because I had no point of reference as to what the name North Carolina meant in the basketball world]. Not only had I stood in a building that once held His Royal Airness. The Razorbacks, that very team my dad watched religiously on the rare occasion they were on television – the team whose radio broadcast filled the cabin of the truck or the walls of my parents' bedroom at least a couple of times per week – that team beat Michael Jordan.

I had to know how. What followed was a description of Jordan hitting a shot to put the undefeated, No. 1 ranked Tar Heels on top by a point with just over a minute to play. Time whittled away as the Razorbacks tried to set up a chance for Alvin Robertson to take the shot. At the time, I had no clue who he was and it didn't matter because he wasn't who ultimately took down Jordan. He passed to Balentine as the clock faded who nailed a 5-foot jumper with four seconds left to give Arkansas a 65-64 win.

There was even a photo of the shot as Balentine went up. I had no clue who he was less than a minute earlier, but in my young mind, he was now not only the greatest Arkansas Razorback to put on a uniform, but he was the greatest basketball player ever. This was at a time when Todd Day, Lee Mayberry, Oliver Miller and Magic Johnson could have walked into the local Pizza Hut and Magic would have been left alone to enjoy his pepperoni in peace because much bigger stars were in the house.

Balentine immediately jumping to the head of the line says so much about how big that moment was. Jordan was an unbeatable force. Any man who could hit a shot to beat him must be Optimus Prime and Hulk Hogan all rolled into one on a basketball court.

It wasn't until this morning that I realized Balentine only had 10 points that game. It still doesn't change the reverence he carries in my mind. Time and wisdom have since taught me Jordan was human, although only slightly, and that he did sometimes lose, although rarely during my time. Still, Balentine is a giant statue in my mind, forever frozen taking down the No. 1 player of all time as part of college basketball's No. 1 team in a town my parents used to drive an hour to so I could play in the arcade, watch a movie and buy school clothes.

It doesn't get any cooler than that for a kid living in late '80s, early '90s Southeast Arkansas. Rest in peace Charles Balentine. At least for me, you will always be the legend of legends on the basketball court.

Shortly after finishing the story, I found a video of highlights from that game. Near the beginning, Balentine blocks Jordan, making him an even bigger legend. Then, for the first time in my life, I watched Balentine hit the shot. What a scene at the end. Here's is that video for those, who like me, never saw one of the biggest games in Arkansas history.