Razorback senior guard JD Notae (#1) from Covington, GA drives into the paint against LSU at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. Against Gonzaga Notae had 21 points along with six assists, six rebounds and three steals.
Nate Allen
FAYETTEVILLE - As anticipated Arkansas All-American senior guard JD Notae is declining his 2022-2023 bonus senior Razorbacks season allowed by the NCAA for those eligible during the covid interrupted 2020-2021 campaign and has declared for the NBA draft.
Notae, 6-2, announced his decision Sunday on Instagram.
“First and foremost, I want to thank God for the gift to play the game that I love,” Notae posted. “I also want to thank my family/support system for their never-ending support and their guidance throughout this process. I want to thank my teammates and coaching staff for believe in me and putting me in a position to be successful. Thank you Razorback nation, it’s been a pleasure to play in front of the best fans in the nation! The past three years at Arkansas have been the best of my life. I wouldn’t trade the memories I’ve made for anything, and Fayetteville will always hold a special place in my heart.”
Upon Eric Musselman becoming Arkansas’ coach in 2019-2020, Notae transferred to Arkansas as junior from the University of Jacksonville.
Notate redshirted, then mandatory for a player transferring from one Division I school to another unless it involved special circumstances.
For the last two seasons Notae starred on 25-7 and 28-9 Razorbacks teams ascending to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight.
Notae was the SEC’s Sixth Man averaging 15.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.9 steals in 2020-21 and earned All-American and first-team All-SEC honors in 2021-2022 averaging 18.9 points, second in the SEC only to Scotty Pippen Jr. of Vanderbilt.
In SEC games Notae averaged 19.7 points.
For his four college seasons Notae of Covington, Ga. scored, 1,999 points.
Earlier during the weekend, junior-to-be reserve guard Khalen “KK” Robinson announced he’s submitting his name in the transfer portal. Robinson, a 6-0 point guard from Little Rock arrived at Arkansas highly recruited out of Oak Hill (Va.) Academy but broke his foot 11 games into the 2020-2021 season.
He missed that season’s remainder and really didn’t get untracked this season playing just 19 of Arkansas’ 37 games with two starts.
Junior-to-be All-SEC Razorbacks center Jaylin Williams currently weighs options whether to turn pro or return to Arkansas for his junior year.
Also during the weekend, Sasha Goforth, the Fayetteville native come home to star as a sophomore for Coach Mike Neighbors’ Razorbacks women after starring as a freshman at Oregon State, announced she is “stepping away” from basketball because of a chronic Gastroparesis stomach condition and anxiety.
A McDonald’s High School All-American at Fayetteville, Goforth averaged 11.6 points and averaged 3.6 rebounds at Oregon State while named to the Pac 12 All-Freshman team and upon transferring to Arkansas helped Neighbors’ Razorbacks reach the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive season while starting every game averaging 11.6 points and 3.6 rebounds.
“This past year, with the combination of Gastroparesis and anxiety, basketball became too much,” Goforth posted on Twitter. “The side effects affected my performance and kept me feeling miserable. Although this is incredibly hard for me, I know that the best thing for me to do right now is to step away from basketball.”
She posted relishing her season with the Razorbacks.
“This year I was blessed enough to get the chance to a part of an amazing program with some amazing people in it,” Goforth tweeted. “I can’t begin to describe how thankful I am that Coach Neighbors and the rest of the Arkansas staff was gracious enough to let me come back this year and be a part of this team. The team and coaches supported me in in every way possible while going through this and I really want to thank them for that
Neighbors said, “Our entire Razorback family is here for Sasha and always will be.”