Hunter Dickinson transfers to Kansas Jayhawks basketball
Hunter Dickinson, one of the best players in the Big Ten over the last three seasons and one of the highest-profile players to ever enter the transfer portal, committed to Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks on Thursday.
Dickinson played for the Michigan Wolverines for the last three years and received all-conference recognition each season. He was named first-team All-Big Ten in both 2021 and 2023, with a second-team honor in 2022. Additionally, he was a consensus second-team All-American in 2021.
Entering Thursday, multiple outlets ranked Dickinson as the best available player in the transfer portal, including The Athletic, CBS Sports and On3, among others.
The former four-star recruit averaged 17.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game in his Michigan career, shooting 57% from the floor and 36% from three-point range. As a junior last season, he scored 18.5 points and grabbed nine rebounds per game while shooting a career-best 42.1% from three. He also has two years of eligibility remaining, including his “Covid year” for playing the 2020-21 college basketball season.
Earlier this offseason, Self said that one of KU’s targets in the transfer portal was a post player who could average 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Dickinson entered the transfer portal on March 31, less than two weeks after Michigan’s season ended in the second round of the N.I.T., and he immediately became one of the most sought-after transfer players available if not the most sought after in the brief history of the portal. He never released a full list of finalists, but reports from multiple outlets indicated that Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland and Villanova were the programs with the best chance of landing Dickinson.
“This decision might even have been harder than the first one coming out of high school, having all these coaches hit you up again,” Dickinson said in his commitment announcement video. “Then again, it was also kind of easier in a sense, been going through it and stuff. But I’m just really glad it’s over now.”
There was speculation earlier in the week that Dickinson would announce his commitment on his podcast, Roundball, but instead he discussed the visits he had taken during his second recruitment and didn’t specify when he would commit.
Sports books took sizable and immediate action once the commitment news broke. Kansas’ title odds jumped from +1600 to +1100 on Thursday morning.
Dickinson is KU’s third addition via the transfer portal this offseason. Former Towson guard Nick Timberlake announced his commitment to the Jayhawks on April 19, while Kansas picked up former Texas guard Arterio Morris last week.
