Joe's UA return ends in 16 days

Arkansas guard Isaiah Joe (1) celebrates a 3-point basket Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, during the first half of play against Missouri in Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. Visit nwaonline.com/uabball/ for a gallery from the game.

FAYETTEVILLE -- On second thought, Isaiah Joe has decided to go.

Joe announced Monday on his Twitter account that he has re-entered the NBA Draft and will not return to the University of Arkansas basketball team for his junior season.

The reversal came 16 days after Joe announced he was withdrawing his name from the draft and would be back at Arkansas.

Early draft entries such as Joe had an Aug. 3 deadline set by the NCAA to withdraw from the draft and retain their college eligibility, but the NBA's deadline for early entires to get back in the draft was Monday.

"My announcement on Aug. 1 to return to school for another season as a Razorback was made with whole-hearted excitement and sincerity," Joe wrote on his Twitter account. "But a lot has happened in a short period of time since then to increase the uncertainty that college sports will be played this season."

The Big Ten and Pac-12 have canceled fall sports, but made no announcement about basketball while the SEC, ACC and Big 12 are planning to play football and other fall sports.

The coronavirus pandemic has cast a doubt over college sports throughout the country for the 2020-21 school year. The Mid-American Conference and Mountain West also are among the Division I conferences to cancel fall sports.

"Due to the COVID-19 virus and the unprecedented cancellation of fall sports by several major conferences in the past week," Joe wrote, "I believe it is in my best interest to forego the remainder of my collegiate eligibility and re-enter the draft in time for the league's Aug. 17 deadline for underclassmen to declare."

Dan Gavitt, the NCAA's senior vice president of basketball, released a statement Monday that by the middle of September direction should be provided "about whether season and practice start on time or a short-term delay is necessitated by the on-going pandemic."

Joe, a 6-5 guard from Fort Smith Northside, averaged 15.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.5 steals in two seasons with the Razorbacks. He played in 59 games, including 58 starts.

Last season, Joe averaged 16.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals. He led the SEC with 94 three-point baskets in 275 attempts (34.2%) despite missing six games because of a knee injury that eventually required arthroscopic surgery.

"We will always support our players when they decide to chase their NBA dream," Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said in a statement. "We will continue to help Isaiah in any way we can and wish him nothing but the best."

As a freshman, Joe set an Arkansas season record with 113 three-point baskets in 273 attempts.

"Zai has cemented his legacy at Arkansas and will forever be a Razorback," Musselman said.

Joe is the second Razorback with eligibility remaining to keep his name in the NBA Draft, which was pushed back to Oct. 16 from its original date of June 25.

Mason Jones, a 6-5 guard who was the co-SEC player of the year and averaged a conference-leading 22.0 points last season, announced several weeks ago that he had signed with an agent and would bypass his senior season to stay in the draft.

Jones and Joe are among 60 players to be invited to the NBA scouting combine, which hasn't been rescheduled since being postponed in late May.

Before Joe announced he was staying at Arkansas to start this month, he was listed at the No. 68 prospect by The Athletic. The draft is two rounds with 60 picks.

The only returnees who played for Arkansas last season are junior guard Desi Sills and junior forward Ethan Henderson. Sills is the leading returning scorer after averaging 10.6 points as a sophomore.

Joe's departure leaves Arkansas with an available scholarship, but a source said that because of the timing -- the fall semester starts in six days – it's highly unlikely the Razorbacks could add a player.

Among the Razorbacks' 10 newcomers, six have previous college playing experience, including senior graduate transfer forwards Vance Jackson (New Mexico) and Justin Smith (Indiana), and senior graduate transfer point guard Jalen Tate (Northern Kentucky).

Transfers who redshirted last season and are now eligible to play include 7-3 sophomore center Connor Vanover (California), 6-1 junior guard JD Notae (Jacksonville) and 6-9 junior forward Abayomi Iyiola (Stetson).

Iyiola suffered a knee injury earlier this summer and is expected to be sidelined for at least five months. Notae injured his left wrist and is practicing on a limited basis, but should be ready for the start of the season.

The Razorbacks also signed a top 10 recruiting class with four high school seniors: 6-6 Moses Moody, 6-4 Davonte Davis, 6-0 Khalen Robinson and 6-10 Jaylin Williams.