Just about one month ago, Hunter Dickinson, one of the most heralded and most well-known players in all of College Basketball entered the Transfer Portal, marking something we have never seen before. Someone who has been an All American at the D1 level and has led his team to the NCAA Tournament multiple times, and was the 2021 Big Ten Freshman of the Year. After much anticipation throughout the recruiting process Dickinson has made his decision and will be playing College Basketball at Kansas next season. Here is what it means for both Dickinson and the Kansas program.
In today’s modern version of College Basketball headline by both the Transfer Portal and NIL, there are many instances where players decide their next destination for all of the wrong reasons. While anyone is entitled to go wherever they want, there is nothing worse than seeing a player go somewhere, where the fit clearly isn’t right or there is no clear path to success. That is exactly the opposite of what happened here, as you couldn’t have found a better fit for Dickinson than Kansas.
Primarily, Bill Self has established himself as the best Coach in College Basketball, as the only active Coach with two National Championship rings. In addition, in Self’s 20 seasons at Kansas, the Jayhawks have never finished worse than third place in the Big 12 and have won the league an astonishing 17 times. If Dickinson was going to leave a situation as good as Michigan, it makes sense going to a place that has done nothing but win in recent memory.
This decision will allow Dickinson to accomplish anything he is capable of plus more at the College level, considering the success and pedigree of this Kansas program. While we have never seen a player, who has accomplished as much as Dickinson at the College Level Transfer, he might as well go to the place that he is most likely to win at and have success with.
Kansas has won a ton of games in the Bill Self era, and a lot of it has to do with their collection of dominant big men in recent memory. From Udoka Azubuike, to Joel Embiid to Thomas Robinson to Perry Ellis, no other Coach has done a better job setting his big man up for success than Self. Even David McCormack, who was inconsistent throughout his time at Kansas, was a massive reason why the Jayhawks were able to cut down the nets in 2022. After averaging 8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds throughout the season, McCormack scored 15 points and collected 10 rebounds in Kansas’ National Championship victory over North Carolina. Self himself will tell you that Kansas doesn’t win that title without his efforts.
With a player like Dickinson now coming to town, Kansas adds an established big man at the College level that has been through and seen everything. The Jayhawks did play a lineup built much differently than Self’s past teams at Kansas in 2023, with 6’7” KJ Adams at the Center position. While Adams played much larger than his actual height and had a great season, Self likes having that traditional big man that he can feed in the post. It also helps that Dickinson will be playing with the purest Point Guard in the country in DaJuan Harris, who also was a part of that Kansas National Title team and finished second in the Big 12 in Assists per game last season.
Dickinson will join Texas Transfer Arterio Morris and Towson Transfer Nick Timberlake to make up an absolutely loaded Transfer Class in Lawrence next season. With Kansas losing each of their top three scorers from last season in Jalen Wilson, Grady Dick and Kevin McCullar, having Dickinson’s experience there from the Get Go is a huge key. The Big 12 also has established itself as the premier Basketball Conference in the country, with two out of the last three National Championship winners and 70% of the league making the NCAA Tournament last season. Despite the talent lost from last season, Kansas is now the team to beat in the Big 12 after this move. Teams like Texas, Iowa State, Kansas State and others, are losing a majority of the core that got them to the big dance last season, without the same replacement for that production as Kansas.
Dickinson chose Kansas over the likes of Kentucky, Maryland, Villanova and Georgetown. While each of those programs should be fine in the long run, there is no doubt that Dickinson would have been a great addition for each of them. Kentucky could be getting former National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe back for another season, to go along with the #1 ranked recruiting class in College Basketball next season.
Maryland will enter Year #2 of the Kevin Willard era as a Top 25 team, bringing back the majority of the core that got the Terps to the NCAA Tournament last season. While Dickinson would have been a great addition, the Terps still have a frontcourt headlined by Julian Reese, Donta Scott, alongside one of the best returning players in the Big Ten Jahmir Young, and Top 100 Freshman DeShawn Harris-Smith and Jamie Kizer. Maryland is a team that should be projected towards the top of the Big Ten entering next season.
Villanova was a destination that would have reunited Dickinson with his former High School teammate at DeMatha, Justin Moore, however they already had an established big man in Eric Dixon, who was one of the better players in the Big East last season.
Dickinson has scored over 1600 points in his college career, with five NCAA Tournament victories and an All American at the college level. This decision to go to Kansas will give him an excellent chance at the NBA, given Bill Self’s pedigree. If leaving Michigan was ever an option, this would be one of the few destinations that would make a ton of sense. Playing in the best conference in the sport for the best Coach and program in the sport.
Zac Krull has covered College Basketball for the last 2 years while working with Aaron Torres of Aaron Torres Media and recording his own Zac Krull Sports Podcast. Currently, Zac is writing as a contributor for Aaron Torres online with weekly articles and working as a producer for the BETQL Network. Zac graduated from SUNY Cortland in 2021 with a degree in Sports Studies.