Cornell's Stone Gettings, right, looks to pass the ball under pressure from Syracuse's Oshae Brissett, left, in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Syracuse, N.Y., Friday, Nov. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Nick Lisi)
Stone Gettings is stuck in upstate New York for another semester, isn’t scheduled to arrive in Tucson until around Christmas, and won’t play a game for the Arizona Wildcats until 2019-20.
But UA coach Sean Miller is counting on the Cornell grad transfer forward to contribute to the Wildcats’ upcoming Pac-12 season anyway. Behind the scenes, that is, as a skilled, versatile practice player who can push the Wildcats’ thin group up front.
Gettings will be able to travel because he’ll arrive as a graduate transfer who is immediately eligible (even though he will opt to sit out until 2019-20). That means he can practice fully throughout the Pac-12 and postseasons, mimicking upcoming opponents or just giving guys like Chase Jeter, Ryan Luther and Ira Lee a tougher workout.
“He’ll be adding to the practice environment like Chase added last year,” Miller said Wednesday, able to discuss Gettings for the first time since he signed scholarship papers with UA.
“We’ve had some guys do that – Matt Korcheck really comes to mind – where on a daily basis they really help our team improve and be ready.
“We won’t have (depth) as much this year but Stone will give us that and I think it’ll be good for his development.”
While playing with former UA guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright at Los Angeles Loyola High School, Gettings was lightly recruited at the Division I level. He then proved himself a high-major caliber player at Cornell.
Gettings was named second-team all-Ivy League as a junior last season while averaging 16.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. His assist rate of 24.2 — defined by Kenpom as assists divided by his teammates’ field goals when he is on the floor — was 228th among Division I players.
“We’re really excited about him because I think he has an offensive repertoire and a skill level that’s unique,” Miller said. “It’s a lot like Lauri (Markkanen) where they can put it on the floor and you can move them around where they’re a very difficult matchup and can play against different types of defenses.
“Stone really gives us that and he also gives us, like Chase and Ryan, an older player, somebody who’s not 18 or 19 but is college graduate from an Ivy League school who loves the game. We worked hard recruiting him and we’re thrilled to have him.”
In return, Gettings will get a chance to prove himself in a high-major conference in 2019-20 and play closer to his Malibu, California, home.
While in Tucson, maybe he can get a burger.
Asked on a Cornell video what his regular fast-food order was, Gettings noted “You have to go to In-N-Out,” he said of the West Coast burger chain that includes multiple locations in Tucson.
“It’s a double-double animal style with animal fries and a large vanilla shake.”
