COVINGTON, Ga. — On Wednesday, June 29, the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors announced its California Classic Summer League roster. Among the 19 players featured on this year’s roster was former Newton High School basketball star JD Notae. 

During the Warriors’ summer league media day, Notae expressed what the opportunity meant to him. 

“It means everything,” Notae said. “Just growing up and just watching great players going through the process and just being able to be here it just means everything to me.” 

Notae also stressed how his No. 1 goal is to “play hard and have fun.” 

The announcement came six days after the NBA Draft concluded on June 23 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. 

Notae is a graduate of Newton High School as part of the 2017 graduating class. He received numerous all-state honors, back-to-back region player of the year and, in his senior season at Newton, was named the 2016-17 Georgia Athletic Coaches Association (GACA) 7A North Player of the Year. This was in addition to Notae eclipsing 1,000 career points during his Rams career. 

He also helped lead the Rams to an Elite Eight appearance in 2016-17 with a 26-2 overall record. 

Notae’s high school coach, Rick Rasmussen, took to Twitter his thoughts on Notae’s opportunity this summer. 

“So proud of you [JD Notae],” Rasmussen said. “We pray this is just the start of a long and successful pro career! You deserve this opportunity!” 

After high school graduation, Notae joined the Jacksonville University basketball program. 

In two seasons there, Notae averaged approximately 15 points, 1.7 steals, five rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. At the end of his sophomore season, Notae was voted Second Team All-ASUN. 

Notae then transferred to Arkansas and sat out the 2019-2020 season per NCAA transfer rules. Even so, Notae was rated by ESPN.com as the 29th best “Sit-Out” transfer for the 2020-21 season. 

Notae was voted as Bleacher Report’s National Sixth Man of the Year as well as SEC coaches Sixth Man of the Year for the 2021-2022 season. 

His junior campaign saw more accolades. 

Notae was voted third team All-American for the Associated Press, The Sporting News, NCAA.com and The Field of 68. He received honorable mention All-American honors from USBWA and CollegeHoopsToday.com. 

Fifth team All-American honors were awarded Notae by All-Rolls Royce, too. 

Additionally, Notae received first team All-SEC honors from SEC coaches, the Associated Press and the USA Today Network. 

That was in addition to his spot on the SEC Community Service team.

Notae accomplished all of this while averaging 18.3 points, 2.3 steals, 3.7 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game his junior season. Notae also helped lead the Razorbacks to the NCAA tournament where they triumphed over Vermont, New Mexico State and top-seeded Gonzaga. 

The Razorbacks were then eliminated by Duke 78-69 on March 26, 2022. 

Soon thereafter, on April 3, Notae announced his decision to forego his senior season and declare for the NBA draft. And, even though he wasn’t drafted, Notae is getting his shot to play on the professional level through the Warriors’ summer league. 

Golden State’s summer league began on July 2 when they played three games on July 2, 3 and 5. In those games, Notae has averaged three points, one rebound and one assist in his 13 minutes of action per game. 

Here is the remaining schedule and how people can watch all the action: 

• Friday, July 8: Warriors vs. New York Knicks, 8 p.m. ET — ESPN 2

• Sunday, July 10: Warriors vs. San Antonio Spurs, 7:30 p.m. ET — NBA TV

• Tuesday, July 12: Warriors vs. Boston Celtics, 8 p.m. ET — ESPN 2

• Friday, July 15: Warriors vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 7 p.m. ET — ESPN