COVINGTON, Ga. — JD Notae has found a new basketball home. 

The former Newton High star who spent his first two collegiate years at Jacksonville, took to social media Wednesday afternoon to articulate his commitment to Arkansas. 

Notae made the announcement almost two months after declaring that he’d transfer from the Dolphins program after spending the last two years as one of Jacksonville’s top scorers. He chose the Razorbacks over a slew of Division I programs that expressed interest, seemingly the moment after he made his departure from Jacksonville official. 

The 6-foot-2, 185 pound guard tallied 15.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game for the Dolphins this past season — almost an identical stat line from when he nabbed Atlantic Sun Conference freshman of the year honors two seasons ago. 

Notae joins a Razorback program that’s seeing a total roster overhaul under recently hired coach head coach Eric Musselman who came over from Nevada on April 7, just six days after Notae announced his transfer. 

In addition to Notae’s pledge, the former Sacramento Kings and and Golden State Warriors head coach has seen several transfers added to the Arkansas roster. Before Notae’s addition, former Cal center Connor Vanover announced his plans to relocate to Fayetteville. Additionally, Musselman has picked up Isaiah Moss, a grad transfer from Iowa along with former UNC Wilmington forward Jeantal Cylla.

Notae was a 1,000 point scorer and three-year starter at Newton, while being a part of back-to-back region championship teams. Former Newton coach Rick Rasmussen, now entering his first year at North Oconee, said he’s looking forward to seeing Notae take some next steps in a SEC program. 

“We are very proud of JD and we know that he was looking for what he thought would be a better fit for him,” Rasmussen said. “We hope he has found that in Arkansas.” 

The Razorbacks finished 18-16 overall in the last of Mike Anderson’s eight-year tenure at the program’s helm. Anderson coached the Hogs to the second round of the NIT before being ousted. 

Per NCAA transfer rules, Notae will have to sit out next season and then he’ll have two years of eligibility left at Arkansas. Rasmussen believes the down time can actually do wonders to strengthen Notae’s game. 

“My first thought is that his sit-out year will help him to get even better and continue to help him mature and grow as a player,” Rasmussen said. “Since he’s already a very accomplished D-1 player, I can only imagine how much better he’ll be after that extra year. We expect great things of him in the 2020-2021 season.”