Kansas Basketball: Impact of landing Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson

On Thursday afternoon, former Michigan star Hunter Dickinson announced that he decided to transfer to Kansas for his fourth year of college basketball. The 7’1” 260 lb senior chose Kansas over Villanova, Maryland, Kentucky, and Georgetown. Dickinson was the consensus top player in the transfer portal.

He announced his decision with a video on Twitter and Instagram, which featured him sharing his choice with Kansas coach Bill Self.

Here are three takeaways from Dickinson’s decision and the saga of his recruitment.

1. Bill Self has his big man

Entering this past season, the reigning National Champion Kansas Jayhawks were without four of their top five scorers from 2021-22. Although a second-round exit in this year’s NCAA Tournament was a disappointment, it was still a very successful season for the Jayhawks. Kansas finished with a 28-8 record, won 17 Quad 1 Games, and earned a No. 1 seed in the dance

Bill Self’s coaching job this past season might have been one of his most impressive across his entire career. Not only did he withstand losing talents like Christian Braun and Ochai Agbaji, but his roster forced him into playing a different style of ball. Kansas lacked depth (345th in the nation with 10.89 bench points per game) and had to rely on a small-ball lineup. While starting five-man KJ Adams did an awesome job, the 6’7″ 225 lb sophomore isn’t the type of big man Self usually has at his disposal.

Self did however have plenty of talent on the perimeter in Jalen Wilson, Gradey Dick, Kevin McCullar, and Dajuan Harris. While Adams is a high-level athlete and great defender, he’s not a back-to-the-basket post scorer.

That all changed with the arrival of Hunter Dickinson from Michigan. Dickinson has been a dominant force down low during each of his three seasons of college basketball. In 2022-23, he averaged 18.5 points per game, 9.0 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks on 56.0 FG% /42.1 3P% /73 FT%  splits.

The Wolverines were very underwhelming this past season, failing to reach the NCAA Tournament. This disappointment followed up an Elite Eight (which should’ve been a Final Four) appearance in 2021 and a Sweet 16 appearance as an 11-seed in 2022. Despite his team’s struggles, Dickinson individually was fantastic, putting up big numbers on his way to second-team All-Conference honors.

Michigan was on the bubble at the end of the season but secured their fate as an NIT team after losing three straight games at the beginning of March. Maybe Dickinson would’ve hit the portal no matter what, but averaging 26.3 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 4.3 blocks across those three losses definitely could’ve pushed him over the edge. He wants to be part of a winning program, and Michigan failed him last season.

Dickinson has proven that he is a player that teams can play through, and having an elite big man is a powerful tool for Bill Self to have at his disposal. It’s customary for Self to have a big bruiser that is a threat to score on the block, and he’s had one almost every year that I can remember. Guys like Perry Ellis, Landen Lucas, Udoka Azubuike, and David McCormack were all tremendous players for Kansas. As good as those guys were, Dickinson is definitely better than all of them.

Self will be able to maximize Dickinson’s talent by consistently getting him the ball where he likes it down low. Plus, he’ll be surrounded by more talent on this Kansas roster, which could unlock new heights for him.

This is an extremely high-level pairing of a head coach and an experienced, star big man. The sky is a limit for what these two can accomplish next season. Self and Dickinson share the same goal of winning a National Championship, and they both might just be exactly what the other needs.

2. Kansas instantly becomes a title favorite

I had a feeling Kansas was going to be Dickinson’s destination, so I’m feeling pretty good about getting in on Kansas to win the 2024 National Championship at +2000 last week  After the big man made his announcement, the sportsbooks shifted their odds to around +1200. The Jayhawks now hold the second-best odds to cut down the nets in Phoenix, second only to the Duke Blue Devils.

This significant jump is totally warranted because Dickinson is that good, and this is such a perfect fit. Losing Wilson, Dick, and potentially McCullar definitely hurts, but Self has shown time and time again that he can handle roster turnover. Kansas is once again locked and loaded as the team to beat in the Big 12.

Dickinson will get to play alongside some great players at Kansas, which includes two returning starters from last year’s group in KJ Adams and Dajuan Harris. Adams will get to slide back to the four spot, and I expect him to take another step forward this season.

Harris has become an elite floor general, and he should have plenty of fun working off of ball screens from Dickinson. Harris averaged 8.9 points, 6.2 assists, and shot the ball quite efficiently (47.1 FG%, 40.5 3P%) last season. I wouldn’t be surprised if Harris took a sizable leap as a scorer next season, similar to the way former Jayhawk guards Frank Mason and Devonte Graham took big steps late in their careers in Lawrence.

Self has also already added other talent through the transfer portal so far this offseason. Kansas is bringing in sixth-year sharpshooter Nick Timberlake from Towson as well as 2022 five-star recruit Arterio Morris from Texas. Toss in a strong recruiting class featuring five-star guard Elmarko Jackson, and Kansas is ready to compete for a National Title again in 2023-24.

3. The announcement roll out was…. interesting

Dickinson, former Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon, and Barstool Sports’ Marty Mush are the hosts of a college basketball podcast called “RoundBall.” The three hosts went live on YouTube Tuesday evening after promoting that a “big announcement” from Dickinson was on the way. It felt pretty clickbait-y, but there definitely was a chance that the 22-year-old announced his decision on the stream.

Also of note: the RoundBall twitter account posted one of the worst graphics I’ve ever seen in my entire life, and I do not say that lightly. The graphic wasn’t even exported; it’s just a picture of a computer screen (note the cursor under Dickinson’s nose). What are we doing here??? Considering how big of a star Dickinson is in the sport of college basketball, and with the backing of the media machine that is Barstool, it’s pretty surprising how unprofessional the podcast is.

On the live stream, Dickinson’s “big announcement” was that…. he hadn’t made up his mind yet. Then, Mush awkwardly coerced Dickinson into saying that he would announce his decision on the Barstool Instagram page at a later date. But instead, Dickinson made the announcement himself by posting a video on his own channels two days later.

The whole ordeal of the announcement was so loosey-goosey, and the college hoops Twitter community was not happy about the deception and letdown. It is pretty funny to me that the one announcement, from the non-announcement, wasn’t even accurate.

I will say this though – the rollout and the buildup of suspense surrounding Dickinson’s decision was entertaining. I’ve heard before that NBA free agency is more exciting than the regular season. I definitely won’t extend that hyperbole to college hoops, but I do think that portal buzz and offseason drama are great for the sport.

I think in the future, guys with platforms like Dickinson will and should take advantage of the public interest around their decisions.  But maybe the PR plan should be a little bit more put together.