Isaiah Joe’s decision to change his mind in August a couple of weeks after coming back to school at Arkansas paid off well Wednesday night.
The former Arkansas player from Fort Smith Northside was taken with the 19th selection in the second round, No. 49 overall, in the NBA Draft.
Former Hogs guard Mason Jones, who left earlier in the year with more eligibility remaining, was not selected.
In August, Joe had announced he was coming back to the Razorbacks before changing his mind and declaring for the NBA Draft a couple of weeks later.
Joe played two seasons for the Razorbacks and as a freshman in 2018-19 he made a school-record 113 3-pointers, tying the SEC freshman record and fourth best in NCAA history for freshmen.
His sophomore season was disrupted with a knee injury, but still managed to rank seventh in Razorback history with 203 career 3-pointers.
This is the draft scouting report on Joe from ESPN’s Kevin Pelton:
Perhaps the best pure shooter in the draft, Joe made just 34% of his 3s as a sophomore but attempted an incredible 10.6 per game. He hit 41% of his 8.0 attempts as a freshman. While he slumped beyond the arc, Joe did hit 89% of his free throws as a sophomore, an encouraging sign. Joe doesn’t do much else besides shoot, which helps explain his low spot in the top 100s, but given solid size and his 3-point volume, he’s got a chance to be a Terrence Ross-style threat off the bench.
It was the second straight year Arkansas has had a player drafted in the second round.
Center Daniel Gafford was chosen in the second round by the Chicago Bulls last year.
