Moody becomes Hogs’ first one-and-done heading to NBA

Other programs have feasted on freshman players leaving every year for pro ball, but Arkansas hasn’t done that … until Moses Moody’s announcement Friday.

It was a surprise to no one.

Arkansas Communications released a comment from coach Eric Musselman after Moody’s announcement:

“We fully support Moses and his family in the decision to enter the NBA Draft. We were excited last spring when they trusted us to continue his basketball journey. I’ve said it many times that Moses handles his day-to-day business like a pro and he will be ahead of the curve when he starts his professional career. Moses was able to showcase his many talents in our system – including being our leading scorer and second-best rebounder – and we believe he continued to make improvements throughout the year to put himself in this position. We will continue to work with Moses and his family as well as do all we can with our connections in professional basketball to promote Moses.”

That will give Musselman an additional weapon in his arsenal rounding up players, most of whom come to college with NBA dreams.

For the first time those dreams are actually happening for a Razorback player. Now he gets to find out it’s more about business than basketball, but that’s part of making a grown-man decision.

The 6-foot-6 guard was SEC Freshman of the Year by the coaches and SEC Newcomer of the Year by the media and added AP Honorable Mention All-American honors.

In his only season with the Hogs, Moody led the Hogs and finished third in the SEC in scoring at 16.8 points per game on 42.7 percent shooting from the field, 35.8 percent (58-162) from three-point range and 81.2 percent (151-186) from the free-throw line.

Moody along with Davonte Davis and Jaylin Williams were the youngest starting lineup in the Sweet 16 and key figure in a team that advanced to the Elite Eight.

But, as expected, he’s gone.