Hunter Dickinson hopes to win a National Championship at Kansas

Hunter Dickinson, the 7-foot-1, 260-pound center from Alexandria, Va., has officially made the move to Lawrence. Coming off a season in which he averaged 18.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game, Dickinson ultimately decided to enter the transfer portal following his junior season at Michigan.

Dickinson, the No. 1 ranked player in the transfer portal, took a handful of visits throughout the process, including trips to Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, and Villanova. When the dust finally settled and it was time to make a decision, Dickinson, on May 4, committed to Bill Self and the Jayhawks.

On Sunday afternoon, Dickinson talked about the process of committing to Kansas and the opportunity to play for Bill Self.

“Oh my gosh, I'm so happy to be here,” said Hunter Dickinson on Sunday afternoon. “Ever since I committed to Coach Self, I've just been super excited, super antsy to get here. Now that I'm here with the guys, I'm just so happy to grow with my teammates, get to know them, get to know the coaching staff and everything, and get acclimated with Lawrence.”

Coming out of DeMatha High School as a member of the 2020 class, Dickinson, the No. 40 ranked player in the class, committed to Michigan after taking visits to Duke, Notre Dame, Florida State, and a few others.

In 94 total games, Dickinson averaged 17.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.6 blocks per game. Offensively, he shot 57.0 percent from the field, 36 percent from behind the arc, and 75.3 percent from the free-throw line.

Dickinson, before going public with his commitment to Kansas, requested that Self travel to Washington, D.C., for an in-person meeting. Shortly after his arrival, Dickinson informed Self that he’d be suiting up for Kansas next season.

“It was good,” said Dickson when asked about committing to Self in person. “I really like to do it face-to-face, so I could see his excitement, and just have him see my excitement, and how excited I was to be here and play for him, and try to bring another national championship to Lawrence.”

Dickinson isn’t the only veteran on the 2023-24 squad when the season kicks off next November. Kevin McCullar, Jr., the 6-foot-6, 210-pound guard from San Antonio, Texas, recently announced that he’d be returning for one final season in Lawrence.

McCullar, Jr., who transferred in from Texas Tech a season ago, averaged 10.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game for Self and the Jayhawks this past season. In 34 games, he shot 44.4 percent from the field, 29.6 percent from behind the arc, and 76.1 percent from the free-throw line.

The 2023-24 team will certainly have a new look when the team takes the court this next season. Bobby Pettiford, Jr., Joseph Yesufu, Kyle Cuffe, Jr., MJ Rice, Zach Clemence, Ernest Udeh, Jr., Cam Martin, and Zuby Ejiofor all left Kansas via the portal.

Gradey Dick and Jalen Wilson left for the NBA draft, while McCullar, Jr., also tested the NBA waters for the second-straight year. Just three players from last year's squad, Dajuan Harris, Jr., Kevin McCullar, Jr., and KJ Adams, Jr., are back from a team that not only captured another Big 12 regular season championship but was awarded the No. 1 seed in the West Region.

Hunter Dickinson, Arterio Morris, Parker Braun, and Nicolas Timberlake were added via the transfer portal, while Jamari McDowell, Elmarko Jackson, and Marcus Adams, Jr., all signed with Kansas as members of the 2023 class.

Chris Johnson, also a member of the 2023 class, was expected to arrive in Lawrence for the start of summer school this past weekend, but late last week, asked to be released from his National Letter-of-Intent.

Currently, Kansas has just 10 players on scholarship.

Don’t be surprised if Self adds another player to the roster in the near future, but there’s no doubt that McCullar, Jr., returning for another season is a big-time game-changer for Kansas.

Not long after McCullar, Jr., announced that he’d be returning to Kansas, Dickinson’s response on Twitter was, in a few words, on point: “It’s McCullover.”

Dickinson, while surrounded by a small group of reporters on Sunday afternoon, was asked about the return of McCullar, Jr.

“Yeah. No, I mean I've watched Kansas basketball, and you know, I feel like him being a really good player, I've obviously heard and seen him play, and I just know from talking to the coaches, especially of how highly they speak of him, and just the kind of person he is on and off the court, but he's just that guy that does all the little things that a lot of people don't want to do,” said Dickinson.

“And I think that's so important, especially for a team that is coming together, and a lot of guys are new faces and stuff like that,” he added. “Just having an older, experienced guy to help us with the culture, and kind of tell all the new guys what it's like to be a Kansas Jayhawk.”

Playing for Bill Self and the University of Kansas will certainly be a new experience for Dickinson. Harris, Jr., and Adams, Jr., both won a National Championship at Kansas, while McCullar, Jr., was a redshirt at Texas Tech the year the Red Raiders lost in the National Championship game.

With the likes of Harris, Jr., Adams, Jr., Arterio Morris, Nicolas Timberlake, Parker Braun, Elmarko Jackson, Marcus Adams, Jr., and others by his side, Dickinson will be surrounded by talent all over the court.

With so much talent on the roster, Dickinson should be given every opportunity to take his game to new heights. How can his game flourish at Kansas, and, more importantly, how might Dickinson’s performance be different at Kansas than it was at Michigan?

“I think it's going to be really easy with Juan (Dajuan Harris, Jr.),” he said. “I remember when I committed, right before I committed, I told him, I was like, "Yo," I called him up, I was like, "Man, if you don't average 10 assists this year, it's going to be your fault, man." And Self told him that too. So, I know Juan's going to make it real easy for me, but I'm trying to make it easier for the other guys too.

“I feel like I attract a lot of attention on offense, and so I told KJ (Adams, Jr.), I told Nicolas (Timberlake) already, I told Juan, I said, "Man, you're going to get a lot of open shots,” he added. “A lot of easy looks for me. And hopefully, it's vice versa. I know those guys are so talented too. Arterio (Morris), all the guys. And so, I think it's just going to be super fun. It's almost like going back to the AAU days of Team Takeover and stuff like that where you've just got so much talent on the floor where it's just... It's just so hard to guard and it makes it so fun because everybody's scoring, everybody's eating, that just makes it a whole lot of fun.”

The story has been told many times and won't soon be forgotten. Self, when looking to next season, said he planned to live in the transfer portal, wanted to take Kansas to even greater heights and absolutely needed to add a player that was good for 20 points and 10 rebounds per game.

Self not only landed quite possibly the best portal class in college basketball but the top player in the transfer portal.

The second Hunter Dickinson hit the portal, he was the priority for Self and his staff.

“Yeah, that's pretty much it right there,” he said when asked about Self’s comment. “I feel like everybody knew who he was talking about. But I told him, I said, "I can get you whatever you need, coach. Whatever it is, whenever it is, I'm just here to try to win another national championship." If that means me scoring 10 points or 20 points, doesn't really matter.

“I just want to come here, try to affect winning, and try to lead my mark as best I can here,” he added.