Two former Red Devil standouts, Tyson Stewart and Kason Porter, had a huge impact on the Mountain Pine community, and their school is looking to uphold the legacy of the brothers who died as the result of a double shooting on Aug. 21 in Hot Springs.
While only able to coach Stewart his senior year, head basketball coach LaMont Page and head football coach Sam Counce both saw great potential in both athletes.
"I had Tyson for one year," said Page. "He played for me the first year I got to Mountain Pine. ... He was my point guard, but Kason -- the younger (brother) -- I had him for four years, and we were a lot closer ... He (Tyson) was a senior on his way out, but me and Kason -- we were real close. We had a bond, and I thought the world of him."
Counce said that Stewart "was a very respectful young man, and he had a little edge to him a little more than Kason, but Tyson was a good kid."
Counce's first interaction with Porter was when he was in the ninth grade.
"The first day I walked into Mountain Pine in the lobby there at the school, Kason walked up to me and said, 'Are you the new coach?' I said, 'Yes I am', and I introduced myself to him," the football coach recalled. "He said, 'I'm Kason Porter. We're gonna win the state championship by my senior year.' I think that confidence was in both of them. Tyson had it, too, and that came from home -- just the structure they had as children."
Athletic director James Galarza noted that the influence the two brothers had on the community and the Red Devils athletic program was something that will be remembered as future student-athletes make their way through Mountain Pine.
"Both boys were pivotal to the success of our athletic program (in) past years," he said. "Kason and Tyson were both real personable. The other students gravitated towards them -- great, great personalities, and it's a tremendous loss for that community. ... They just were good student-athletes and everybody knew them."
"As far as athletics is concerned, we can take what those two young men have passed along and try to instill that in some of our younger athletes," he continued. "Hopefully the athletes that they played with -- the junior that are seniors now or even the underclassmen that knew Kason really well -- that they'll pick up his leadership qualities that he had, because sometimes you lead by example. And if they can pick that up -- whether it's athletics or anything else -- it's going to help them in life."
Page recalled the close-knit relationship he built with Kason over the four years he coached him, noting the characteristics that made him who he was, both on and off the court.
"He was my point guard from ninth grade to 12th grade," he explained. "He was a special kid. He was a good student, he never got in any trouble at school, he was never in any type of fights or any discipline problems or anything. He was actually enrolling in Arkansas Tech before this incident happened, so he was going on to leave Mountain Pine to do bigger and better things. I always told him that, 'Man, you can leave here and make a life outside of this little, bitty town. Don't let this town be your only thing that you see your whole life.'"
Porter came off the bench as a sophomore, helping lead his team through the regional tournament before getting injured.
"He couldn't play in the state tournament, and that was a big thing for me because I brought him off the bench (and) he was like my spark," Page explained. "He was just a good kid, he was a good soul and everybody loved him. I don't know anybody that didn't like him. He was liked by all his peers (and) his teachers at Mountain Pine. He was a real soft-spoken kid. I pushed him and I pushed him to be -- I wanted him to be the star of my team, but that's not a role that he wanted. He just wanted to be a team-man. He didn't want to be the star, he didn't want to be the man; he just wanted everybody else to shine. ... He wanted everybody else to get credit."
Counce relied on Porter's leadership qualities on the football team as well.
"He had the heart of a lion, I promise you," he said. "He was fun to be around and just a very, very respectful young man. He was one of those kids I could go to and I could ask him some questions about what was going on with our players -- kinda just check the temperature of the players. And I knew if Kason had an opinion about it that it was on the mark. To say that I'll miss him and that I don't hurt is a very strong understatement, and I'm just deeply saddened for his mom, dad, the family and the community for the tragedy that happened.
"Kason called me probably a month ago on the phone. I think he was sitting around with some of his friends -- Cobra (Barnett), Chance (Godwin) and different ones, and just wanted to know what I was doing. He was just that kind of kid. He had a bright future! Kason was gonna make it; he was gonna be fine."
Page said that Porter also helped to impact his career by changing his view of coaching high school athletes.
"I wish I had 10 kids like him that were as selfless as he was because that was him," he said. "He didn't have a mean bone in his body. I tried to make him mean; I would get onto him to try to make him mad and I couldn't. He never would respond in a mad way -- that just wasn't him. He'd talk to his teammates; he'd never get onto them and try to make them do something. ... He definitely changed me as a coach. As coaches, we coach kids all of our career and coach hundreds, thousands of kids, and we're always looking to change kids to being what we want them to be. This kid here -- he changed me, and I won't ever forget that. I won't. He taught me I need to let my players be who they are, and if that's who they are, that's who I need to embrace them as.
"We had a connection. ... He was one of the ones that no matter how long I coach, I'll always remember the way that he touched me. We would talk about stuff outside of basketball, just life in general, and he was so receptive to everything I said to him. He was almost like a son to me. I have girls, but he was like a son to me and like I said, I'll never forget (him)."
Counce and Galarza both agreed that the Mountain Pine community will forever remember and embrace the memory of both players.
"I have the seniors over to my house right before school starts, and last year his senior class came over and I've got pictures of him on the lake and stuff like that," Counce noted of one of his last memories with Porter. "Kason spent the night that night, he and a few other of his classmates. And I think that meant a lot to him to know that he could come over to my house and spend the night. ... He was welcomed here."
"They had such a tremendous impact that people don't realize," said Galarza. "For example, just 30 minutes ago, I got a phone call from a classmate that played ball with (Porter). He was very upset still, and he was talking about how great of a guy Kason was and he was glad to play with him. That's the type of kid that he was; he had that effect. His classmates loved him, and the younger student-athletes -- they looked up to him, because he was so polite
and respectful."