FAYETTEVILLE — Even before last weekend's news, Arkansas basketball coach Eric Musselman had a pretty good idea that expectations would be high entering the 2020-21 season.
After his first year leading the Razorbacks was cut short because of the covid-19 pandemic, he and his staff worked the NCAA's transfer portal and added three experienced graduate transfers to the roster: New Mexico forward Vance Jackson, Indiana forward Justin Smith and Northern Kentucky guard Jalen Tate. All were brought on to provide depth and collectively ease the blow of losing Jimmy Whitt to eligibility and Mason Jones to the NBA Draft.
Additionally, Connor Vanover and JD Notae, who sat out last season after transferring from California and Jacksonville, respectively, are now eligible and figure to play key roles. Mix those pieces with a national top-five recruiting class that features four top-100 players, according to ESPN, and a returning guard in Desi Sills, there was good reason for optimism early in Musselman's tenure.
All the while, shooting guard Isaiah Joe's status was up in the air.
Joe's announcement Saturday that he was pulling his name out of this year's NBA Draft and returning to Arkansas for his junior season took expectations for the upcoming season to another level.
"It was definitely a lot of buzz when I made my announcement," said Joe, who added that he informed Musselman of his decision roughly a week before making it public. "I feel like a lot of people were really happy — the state, my coaching staff, my teammates, my family, me especially. I feel like we made a lot of buzz and now it’s time to perform.
"Hopefully we get to play some games. I feel like the buzz is going to carry a long way."
Joe noted that him opting to return to school was a result of weighing the pros and cons with his family of both staying in the draft and remaining with the Razorbacks. After a three-hour discussion, he had his answer — and Musselman had his All-SEC guard back in the fold.
His return arms an already talented Arkansas team with one of the premier perimeter threats in the country, an underrated defender who has proven willing to sacrifice his body for the team, and a selfless teammate. Joe says he is ready for an expanded leadership role, too.
Unequivocally, Musselman feels as if he got a star back in Joe, who he says should be up for preseason player of the year in the talent-filled SEC. And right now, the feeling within the program — and even with players on last year's roster — is that this group is much deeper and more talented than a season ago.
"I think that no one’s going to put more expectations on anything than I will internally. What we are is we’re a team with potential," Musselman said. "There’s a lot of factors like chemistry, accepting roles, sharing the basketball, rotating on defense when you’re supposed to, getting loose balls, playing hard. All those things, I don’t know how they’re going to go.
"Certainly with Isaiah coming back, those expectations got even (higher), which is cool, you know? Bring it on. We’ve got to try to put it together as best we can. It’s better than the other way when there’s no expectations."
Joe's presence changes what Arkansas' identity can be, Musselman said. Asked if he has had a roster in the past similar to this one in terms of being able to potentially floor five 3-point shooters, Musselman brought up his Sweet 16 team at Nevada in 2018 that featured Caleb and Cody Martin, Jordan Caroline and Kendall Stephens.
The roster flexibility is a plus, he said.
And Joe, who went through a few drills at the team's practice Monday, according to Musselman, is eager to get to work and develop chemistry with each of the Razorbacks' new faces.
"It’s going to be exciting for all of us to get out on the court and show what we do best," said Joe, who averaged 16.9 points over 26 games last season. "I really feel like we have great talent this year.
"We have a really high ceiling."