UC Bearcats Corie Blount, Danny Fortson’s girls play GMC basketball

On Feb 6, 2022

The shoes are large and hard to fill.

But, these prominent Girl Dads understand the expectations and are proud just to watch their daughters grace the floor.

Two former University of Cincinnati basketball Bearcats who played for then-coach Bob Huggins and were first-round NBA draft picks are now regular spectators at some Greater Miami Conference events.

Corie Blount, who played on Final Four and Elite Eight teams in the early 1990s for the Bearcats is the father of Lakota East 6-foot sophomore Celina Blount. Danny Fortson, who starred on UC’s last Elite Eight team in 1996, is the father of Princeton 6-foot-1 inch freshman Kali Fortson.

In Wednesday’s 69-25 win by GMC leader Princeton, young Fortson didn’t play as she was recovering from a concussion. She hopes to be back for the postseason.

For Lakota East, Celina Blount came off the bench with three points, three rebounds and a couple of blocks running like a gazelle much like her father would rim-to-rim.

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Both girls are role players on their team for now but could be matched up in the post for seasons to come. Both have benefited from some occasional after-hours work from their highly-decorated dads.

Fifteen-year-old Kali Fortson credits her up-and-over and drop-step moves under the basket to her father who used them to score 1,881 career points in three seasons at UC and 3,615 in the pros.

“If I miss in the wide-open lane or something, I’ll get a whole entire talking-to,” Kali said grinning behind her mask. “If I’m doing really good or if I get fouled and they don’t say anything, he’ll tell me I’m doing good. He’ll keep encouraging me but he’ll still be tough on me. He knows the game and knows what I’m doing right and what I’m doing wrong.”

Prior to her injury, she was averaging roughly three points and three rebounds per game as a top option on the bench.

Corie Blount is also excited about his daughter Celina being on varsity as an underclassman. Though her mother took credit for Celina’s 3-pointer against Princeton, periodic trips to the gym with her dad have helped her develop.

“He’ll say, ‘Get in the car!'” Celina said laughing. “It helps knowing what he did in the NBA and in college so I can put that in my game. A lot of times it just helps when we go outside and shoot around. He’ll teach me how to shoot or how to post-up and make different moves.”

Sometimes old No. 44 will pull up video for young No. 44 to watch. Recently it was to help with boxing out. With Blount’s daughter matching up with Fortson’s daughter in the future, that skill could be beneficial.

“I got a chance to see her play the last time. She’s physical out there,” Corie Blount said of Fortson’s daughter. “I see where it comes from!”

Blount was a 6-foot-10-inch forward and a first-round pick of the Chicago Bulls, playing with Michael Jordan before moving on to the Lakers. He played for five more teams and last appeared for Toronto in 2004.

Danny Fortson was Milwaukee’s first pick but the 6-foot-7-inch rookie was immediately traded to the Denver Nuggets. He also played with four other teams and last suited up for Seattle in 2007.

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Both power forwards have learned as fathers that not every instruction is necessarily obeyed.

“She’s been listening a little bit,” Danny Fortson said. “Normally you tell your kids some things and for some reason, they just don’t listen. I try to stay out of it and let her go and do her thing. The less I say, the best for the child.”

Fortson then laughed at the idea of his former coach Huggins not saying much. Perspective comes with age.

Corie Blount is happy his daughter chose to play basketball. At some point as a fourth-grader, she got hooked on March Madness.

“She’s started to come into her size and confidence is coming a little bit,” Blount said. “I’m hoping she’ll be a late bloomer. I just don’t want to pay for college (laughs). If she becomes a late bloomer, we’ll take that. I’m just here to support at this stage.”

In terms of late bloomers, Blount himself graduated high school at 6-feet-2-inches tall before arriving on UC’s campus from California two years later with teammates Terry Nelson and Erik Martin at 6-foot-10.

As for the current Bearcat basketball team, both have made appearances with their kids at Fifth Third Arena where evidence of their past is prevalent.

“He’s everywhere!” Kali Fortson said.

Celina Blount often hears, “Oh my God, your dad is Corie Blount!”

While the current configuration of UC’s home court is not as big as the 13,176 that would sell out the old “Shoe” (Shoemaker Center), it still can pack more than 10,000. Blount has met with UC coach Wes Miller and also attended practice.

“I’m liking the way things are going in this first year,” he said. “We all know it’s a building process and he’s trying to get the guys to buy into his philosophy. They’re doing pretty good, I think, for the first year. I support him.”

Blount and Fortson are often featured on video flashbacks showing big plays from the past. It’s still a little strange for Fortson to watch where his legacy caught fire. He last visited in December and was planning another visit soon, perhaps with Blount.

“I’m supporting those guys,” Fortson said. “I’m happy DerMarr (Johnson, another ex-UC NBA player) is on staff. Coach Wes is a young guy. I think he’s got great energy and I think he’s going to do good things for UC.”