Hunter Dickinson: Transfer to KU was a ‘basketball choice’

• Dan Murphy, ESPN Personnel WriterJun 16, 2023, 07:00 AM ET

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LAWRENCE, Kansas– Hunter Dickinson fidgets with his brand-new, white Adidas shoe, his crossed legs spanning the majority of a leather loveseat inside an office in the famed Allen Fieldhouse.Dickinson, a 7-foot-1 center and the most coveted transfer professional athlete to date in college basketball’s new age of player liberty, arrived on the University of Kansas school a few days earlier. He is wearing a 2022 Kansas national championship Tee shirts. Dickinson was the sophomore star of a Michigan group that was bounced in the Sugary food 16 that year. His choice to join this KU lineup now increased the Jayhawks from a top 10 group into a prime title contender this upcoming season.As he tugs at the heel of his brand-new tennis shoes, he explains that he has actually never ever used Adidas on the court, and he’s needed to drop down a size( from 18 to 17) to search for the most comfy fit. There is absolutely nothing else about Dickinson’s life– neither expectations nor opportunities, nor the size of the phase or the size of the checking account– that will be diminishing in his brand-new house.”He is the most prepared-to-produce player we have actually ever recruited,”said coach Costs Self, who has actually coached 11 NBA draft lottery picks and eight conference players of the year throughout his two decades at Kansas.”No one has actually ever shown up here much better prepared to produce or receive awards.” Editor’s Picks 2 Associated Dickinson gets here with proof rather than simply potential. He averaged more than 17 points and 8 rebounds per game in three seasons at Michigan and was a second-team All-America pick as a freshman. Questions about his ability to defend and his fit as a throwback center in the modern-day NBA kept him from testing NBA waters after his seasons at Michigan. In the old days of 2 years back, his track record through 3 seasons might have sufficed to persuade him to leave college as a borderline NBA prospect or play professionally overseas. The ability to earn money from name, image and likeness(NIL )deals the past two seasons has assisted develop a new type of players– others consist of Purdue’s Zach Edey, North Carolina’s Armando Bacot and Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe– who have actually chosen it’s a much better business choice to establish their games even more while taking advantage of star power on basketball-obsessed college campuses rather than rushing to the professional ranks.”We have actually discussed it. It’s great because it’s actually assisted keep us back in college, “Dickinson said. “Being an excellent college basketball player is truly fun.”Dickinson is special even amongst that small group since of his choice to move to a brand-new school, which set in motion a head-spinning, 34-day recruiting process and a swirl of reports about the kind of money a tested 7-footer can command in the new market for college athletes.He says he wants to make clear that his option to dip into Kansas was a”basketball choice, “driven by the potential to win champions and by the coaching personnel’s credibility for establishing and deploying their big men effectively. To the extent that money factored into his thought procedure while arranging through his choices, Dickinson states he was thinking not about any instant payday however how to optimize his capacity to stick around for a long professional career in the NBA after his time in college. “If I wished to simply go to the greatest bidder,”he said,”then it wouldn’t be Kansas. “The NCAA does not permit overt bidding for players. Schools can inform potential customers just how much their present players are making in NIL deals and what sort of resources are offered to help them cash in on their fame.Dickinson stated Self shared those numbers with him throughout their first telephone call shortly after he went into the transfer website

on March 31, but stated he couldn’t make any assurances about money. Self stated they spent the majority of the discussion speaking about how Dickinson would suit the Jayhawks’offense and what parts of his game needed to enhance if he wished to reach the NBA.Coaches and boosters are not permitted to make direct offers to encourage a player to attend their school. Dickinson stated that didn’t stop much of them from finding imaginative ways to call a rate, some more brazenly than others.”A lot of them were quite open with it,”he said, “like,’This is what you could get if you came here.'” Other schools discovered ways to float numbers through previous coaches or fitness instructors

who understood the Dickinsons. In some cases, moms and dads who knew the family sent out messages to Hunter’s parents describing how much cash some of the players on their son’s team were making. Dickinson and his moms and dads, who spoke with more than a lots schools throughout the month-long recruiting process in April, decreased to share details about the kinds of offers they got or

the coaches and schools that made them.”We don’t require any more debate in our life than what we already have, “said Tim Dickinson, Hunter’s father.Rock Chalk! https://t.co/U76y2UwToa!.?.!— Hunter Dickinson( @H_Dickinson24 )June 2, 2023 Dickinson stated he made less than $100,000 in his last year at Michigan. He spoke with friends in the sport that other players who were not as impactful on the court were making even more at other schools. While NIL money was not a primary deciding factor in going to Kansas, he stated, it becomes part of the reason

he left Michigan. His moms and dads stated during the recruitment procedure this spring they were shocked to find out that the earning potential for a player like Dickinson

began at a minimum of$500,000.”I believe

that would make any normal human being a little upset about their circumstance

,”Dickinson stated.” Any man in some desk task that was working way harder and producing method more than a person at another business that wasn’t producing nearly as much as them however they’re making more cash, I feel like any regular human being would be a little upset.” Dickinson said leaving Michigan was still among the hardest decisions he’s ever made. He”sobbed like a baby” when he informed head coach Juwan Howard in late March that Michigan’s frustrating season(which ended in a second-round NIT loss)was wearing on him and that he wanted to go in other places to finish his college career.Within minutes of his name officially appearing in the online portal, Dickinson stated his phone and his parents’phones started blowing up with calls from coaches. While finishing the academic year at Michigan, he went to 5 schools(Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Georgetown and Villanova )in a super-charged, month-long recruiting process.Along with more business-like discussions about his future professional potential customers and his current earning potential, the month of April also included lots of old-fashioned hiring hustle. Maryland had a handful of teachers from nearby DeMatha Catholic High School (Dickinson’s alma mater)waiting in the university parking area to welcome him back house and motivate him to remain, according to Dickinson’s parents. The household’s flight to Kansas was postponed by a number of hours, which meant they showed up in Lawrence after midnight. Self was at the airport to choose them up, and the whole coaching staff was waiting at their hotel when they showed up shortly after 2 a.m.Self, who was not on the sideline for Kansas during the NCAA tournament in March while recovering from a health scare, said he felt”re-energized “by a chaotic month of recruiting. Kansas included two other transfers this spring to finish overhauling a roster with only 3 returning scholarship players.He said he thinks the brand-new guidelines will make it much easier for high-major teams like Kansas to fill missing out on pieces on their lineups through the transfer portal each spring, making it less likely that they’ll take big actions backwards in any given year. That showed to be the case this season for the Jayhawks. He called Dickinson”the anchor”of an offseason in which the transfer website treated them” actually, truly well. “The veteran coach stated he sees benefits and drawbacks to the new world of building a college roster. Self said he is concerned that the combination of brand-new

transfer guidelines and NIL cash is teaching young athletes the wrong lessons when it comes to fighting through adversity, but he understands that there are cases where relocating to a new group remains in a player’s best interest.”I’ve been doing this for a long time and now to keep up with the more youthful group of players I have actually got to change, “he said.”To me, that’s been fun.”The transfer procedure was more stressful than fun for Dickinson, who stated he’s now pleased to be settling into a brand-new school and learning more about his new colleagues during the very first weeks of June. Dickinson said he was used thin by a few of the reviews he became aware of his decision to leave Michigan, but that ultimately the brand-new doors available to him and others like him– both in terms of chances to look for better spots to develop their skills and the money players can now make in college– are an excellent advance for college basketball.”It’s a multibillion dollar market. You have actually got coaches making almost $10 million a year. This is not an amateur organization, “Dickinson said.”… People might take that the incorrect way, like you don’t care and you’re only about cash.

However I think for me, I take a look at it as attempting to expand and grow in the game of basketball. I’m working out every day to

grow my organization.”