Before grad transfer guard Justin Kier announced his commitment to Arizona on Wednesday, the Wildcats had just 88 collective college starts among them.
Now they have more than double that.
A versatile, 6-foot-4-inch combo guard from the Shenandoah Valley town of Grottoes, Virginia, Kier joins the otherwise young Wildcats as the epitome of the newly created “super seniors” in college basketball. He played four seasons at George Mason, starting 95 total games while missing nearly all of his final season in 2019-20 because of a foot stress fracture, then started all 25 games last season at Georgia.
Then, thanks to the extra year of eligibility granted all players who participated in the pandemic-plagued 2020-21 season, Kier announced Wednesday he would play a sixth season at Arizona.
While the NCAA has not definitively said if two-time grad transfers will be immediately eligible at their final destination, Kier (pronounced KY-er) is expected to be on the floor next season as a box-score-filling combo guard with a respectable 3-point shot and nose for the ball.
Kier averaged 9.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game for the Bulldogs last season, ranking fourth in the SEC in steals.
“I’ve always been pretty good at reading passes,” Kier said in January, according to Bulldawg Illustrated. “I watch a lot of film. … I’ve been watching film since high school and when you watch that much film and go through the plays, I know which ones I can probably get. If you’re aggressive and study the game mentally, it makes the physical part easier.
A combined 34% 3-point shooter during his George Mason career, Kier evolved into more of a long-range threat last season. He shot 36.6% from 3-point range, taking just over half his 198 shots from beyond the arc.
Kier played in all but Georgia’s second game of last season because of a suspension. He had been jailed overnight in October 2020 after being arrested for reckless driving, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Kier wasn’t available for comment Wednesday, but upon announcing he would leave Georgia earlier this month, he thanked Georgia coach Tom Crean for “teaching me about life” and also staff, family and teammates for their support.
Crean, meanwhile, tweeted his support for Kier. As a graduate transfer, Kier wasn’t expected to have any remaining eligibility for 2021-22 until the NCAA opted not to count last season toward the NCAA’s eligibility clock.
Justin Kier has more college starts (120) than the rest of his new UA teammates combined (88).
“We loved coaching (Kier). Absolutely loved it,” Crean tweeted on May 5, after Kier announced he was entering the transfer portal. “We never anticipated him coming back but the door was always open. We hoped he would reach his professional dreams but they are still a year away. Playing his last year near his family is his goal and we totally support him.”
Kier was one of three graduate transfers on the Bulldogs last season, winding up with the second-most minutes on the team behind only leading scorer Sahvir Wheeler, who has since transferred to Kentucky.
The Bulldogs finished 14-12 overall and 7-11 in the SEC last season.
“We know what it takes to win and I feel like that’s the maturity of us three,” Kier said in late January, according to Bulldawg Illustrated. “Being a graduate student it’s that maturity level that if you come out, you can’t really have bad games and if you do, you still have to impact the team. That’s what we’re focused on, winning and doing what we need to do to fulfill what we want to do this season.”
Next season, as of now, Kier will be alone as the Wildcats’ elder statesman. Arizona has four returning starters from its last game, but three of them — Kerr Kriisa, Bennedict Mathurin and Azuolas Tubelis) — will be sophomores. The fourth, center Christian Koloko, is a rising junior.
None of the Wildcats have played college basketball before 2019-20 except Kier, who began his George Mason career in 2016-17. Kier, who graduated last year from George Mason, will turn 21 on Sunday.
While Kier can play any of the three perimeter spots for the Wildcats, it is possible he will settle primarily into one of the wing spots while Kriisa and Utah transfer Pelle Larsson handle point guard duties. Rising sophomore Dalen Terry and Parisian freshman Adama Bal also have ballhandling backgrounds.
The Wildcats could still add another ballhandler and/or a hybrid forward or big man. Arizona has up to two remaining scholarships available for 2021-22.
