Big Ten Basketball: 10 key storylines to watch for 2023 offseason

Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey (15) celebrates as he is announced the player of the tournament after winning the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship game against the Penn State Nittany Lions, Sunday, March 12, 2023, at United Center in Chicago. Purdue won 67-65.Pupsu031223 Am22423 /

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Big Ten Basketball Michigan Wolverines center Hunter Dickinson Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /

5. The status of Hunter Dickinson and Michigan

Besides Zach Edey, no other team in the Big Ten has a bigger decision to make than Dickinson. He led the team with 18.5 ppg and 9.0 rpg, though it wasn’t enough to get the Wolverines into the NCAA Tournament. It was a disappointing season overall, marred by inefficent play on both ends of the court.

After 94 games in three seasons, the 7’1 center has a decision to make. He went through the NBA Draft process a year ago and came back but didn’t really improve his game enough to be considered a draftable player, though he did shoot 42% from three-point range on 57 attempts. Even with some flaws and antics, Dickinson is one of the best individuals in both Big Ten Basketball and nationally.

Him leaving would be tough, as Michigan already has lostt Jett Howard (14.2 ppg) to the draft. Kobe Bufkin, the team’s only other double-digit scorer in the season (14.0 ppg) is a projected first-round pick and could be leaving as well. Point guard Dug McDaniel had a good freshman year as a ball-handler but isn’t good enough for the team to build around.

The Wolverines are going to need multiple pieces to get back into the NCAA Tournament mix. But most importantly, they need Dickinson back for one more year. If that happens, they’ll enter next season in the top-5 of the conference again.

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