Remember when Stephen Cox told us he was considering a return to the golf team after playing basketball for a couple of years?

Well, Arkansas men’s golf coach Brad McMakin said that will be happening next season.

I spoke with McMakin earlier this afternoon about his team’s runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships last weekend. We also talked about his team’s promising future. One thing he mentioned was that Cox will be back in the mix for playing time.

“Stephen Cox is going to come back and play for us,” McMakin said. “He’s going to bring some leadership and he’ll work on his game this summer. Stephen’s got as much talent as anyone in the country.”

Cox was on basketball scholarship last season largely because the Razorbacks had a short-handed roster. Arkansas basketball coach John Pelphrey has said Cox knew he wouldn’t be on scholarship next year because the Razorbacks are on pace to have a full bench.

Cox will be part of a full bench, so to speak, with the golf team as well. The Razorbacks return three of the five who played at the NCAA Championships. They also have a two redshirts and two more signees expected to be factors. So playing time is no given.

Cox played on the golf team in 2006-07. He redshirted in 2006, but played 13 rounds in 5 tournaments and averaged 74.62 strokes. Before that, Cox was a two-time all-state selection in golf at Jonesboro High.

“If I have a future in anything, it’s going to be golf, for sure,” Cox said after winning the Men’s Stroke Play Championship of NWA at Stonebridge Meadows Golf Club on Sunday. “I’m not going to make it to the NBA and I’m not going to go overseas to play (basketball).”

There is one downside: We may not get to hear Pelphrey refer to Stephen Cox as “the golfer” during press conferences anymore.

Arkansas’ Stephen Cox won the Men’s Stroke Play Championship of NWA at Stonebridge Meadows Golf Club on Sunday, shooting a two-day total of 2-under 146. In case you didn’t know, Cox played golf at Arkansas before deciding to instead play basketball two years ago.

After Cox’s round on Sunday, he had some interesting comments about his future with the Razorback basketball team and his last year of athletic eligibility.

“Right now, it’s basketball or golf, one of the two,” Cox said. “I’m kind of leaning more towards golf. If I have a future in anything, it’s going to be golf, for sure. I’m not going to make it to the NBA and I’m not going to go overseas to play (basketball).”

Cox, who has one year of eligibility left, said he recently graduated, despite having 10 hours left to complete his undergraduate degree. 

If Cox does leave Arkansas’ basketball team to instead play golf, it’ll be good timing for himself, considering how the Razorbacks finished runner-up in the NCAA National Championships in Toledo, Ohio, on Saturday against Texas A&M.

“The golf team did outstanding over the weekend, I was really proud of them,” Cox said. “To make it that far, to beat the teams they did, including Georgia in the semifinals, it was just incredible.”

Cox, who is from Jonesboro, redshirted on the golf team during his freshman year under former golf coach Mike Ketcham before playing “in about five or six tournaments” the following year. During his sophomore and junior seasons, Cox played basketball under Arkansas coach John Pelphrey.

This season, Cox played in only 18 games, averaging 2.2 minutes per game. He finished with seven rebounds and scored only one point — a free throw against Texas Southern on Dec. 3.