Hart Attack!

by Evin Demirel I recently spoke with Jarrett Hart, my high school classmate from Little Rock Central High in the late 1990s. He helped lead the Tigers to a 29-3 record and shared co-MVP honors with Joe Johnson after winning a state championship in ‘98-99. Little Rock Central finished the season 17th in USA Today’s Top 25. Earlier this summer, I interviewed him and Coach Oliver Fitzpatrick at Central’s gym. Beneath a framed portrait of Johnson’s No. 24 black and gold jersey, Hart and Fitzpatrick reminisced about that championship team, which was at one time ranked the nation’s seventh-best team by Street and Smith magazine. “It was the best team that ever played [in Arkansas],” Fitzpatrick says. Ten of its 16 players would receive scholarships to play in college, he added. While Johnson snared various Arkansas Player of the Year awards and national honors, Hart did pretty well himself. He recalled playing before his senior year in what is no...