Arizona Basketball got themselves a solid transfer in Stone Gettings for the 2019-20 season. What will he bring for the Wildcats once he’s eligible to play?
If there’s any doubt concerning Head Coach Sean Miller’s recruiting ability, it should be wiped away after this offseason. Not only was he able to rebound well after losing all of his previously committed recruits, Miller landed a pair of grad transfers for the 2018-19 season. The roster for this upcoming season is set, yet recruiting never ends.
Expectations for next year is low but that won’t be the case for the year after, as Wildcat fans settle for nothing but competing for Pac-12 titles and making runs in the NCAA Tournament. This addition could potentially move the needle in a couple of seasons.
Cornell grad transfer Stone Gettings is a nice late addition for Arizona. He’s come a long way since high school and will help add some size to the front court. He will arrive at UA at the semester break but will not not play until 2019-20
— Matt Moreno (@MattRMoreno) July 16, 2018
This is a unique grad transfer situation due to Stone Gettings coming from Cornell. The Ivy League’s rules concerning scholarships exclude the traditional “fifth-year”, meaning that he would have to sit out a year this upcoming season while he officially graduates before joining Arizona. This works out for the team anyways since Pitt grad transfer Ryan Luther is also a forward.
As far as on the court goes, the 6’9 and 230-pound big man fits well with the Wildcats’ offense. He shot nearly 50% from the field while shooting over four three-point attempts per game. Not only was his 16.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg and 2.9 apg career-bests, it was done in an efficient matter.
The immediate question concerning mid-major grad transfers is whether or not their production translates after going up a level and playing against better competition on a nightly basis. When it comes to Gettings, there were only two games against power conference teams last season to look at for evidence.
They were versus Syracuse (six points in 14 minutes) and Auburn (12 points and seven boards in 22 minutes). He did have a career-high 39 points in the previous game at Delaware, although all games ended up in losses. There will be better talent surrounding him but there might not be a better scorer at Arizona than Matt Morgan, who averaged 22.5 ppg this past season to lead Cornell.
Gettings is a big boost in terms of depth for Arizona for the future. Luther will be gone, leaving only Chase Jeter and Ira Lee as the only true frontcourt players for the team. And while both still have high expectations, neither has looked great at the D-1 level so far. Gettings will have a great chance to start in the 2019-20 season.
Next: Analyzing Arizona's rotation for 2018-19
By getting a transfer early in the process (two years from now) Miller and staff won’t have to recruit as heavy at the power forward position. They’ll need another guard and center, which shouldn’t be as hard to do now that the FBI Investigation has blown by the program. This might not be a five-star recruit out of high school but Gettings is an instant impact player who’ll make Arizona a Pac-12 contender.
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