With Kansas Transfer, Hunter Dickinson Solidifies His Villain Role

The Jayhawks give the 7’1” center the best chance to meet his extraordinarily high expectations.

One of the biggest stars in men’s college basketball is headed to Kansas.

Hunter Dickinson, arguably the highest-profile transfer in the portal era and perhaps even all time, brought his high-stakes recruitment to an end Thursday by picking Bill Self and Kansas over a long list of suitors that also included Kentucky, Villanova, Maryland and Georgetown. The 7'1" big man, an All-American in 2021, has up to two years of eligibility remaining should he elect to use his extra year.

Dickinson’s recruitment was something of a circus with a distinct NBA free-agency feel, unlike anything we’ve seen in college basketball. Fans posted blurry, zoomed-in pictures of Dickinson from a distance as he arrived for visits at the five schools he toured. Message board speculation was rampant. Hometown school Maryland hired his former high school coach, Mike Jones, away from Virginia Tech during the process. Dickinson played his cards close to his chest throughout, with even the coaches involved in the recruitment not having much sense of where he was going until the very end.

Whether intentional or not, Dickinson’s foray in the portal became a brand-building event. Dickinson, who is very active in the NIL space, cohosts the Roundball podcast with Barstool Sports. The show teased the potential for a commitment announcement live Tuesday, then encouraged fans to subscribe to the show’s channel for the potential of an early release. After a delayed stream, Dickinson announced simply that he’d be announcing his decision on the Barstool Sports Instagram. His eventual announcement came just on his personal Instagram.

That podcast has been part of Dickinson’s shift into college basketball’s villain, a role he has embraced since returning as a sophomore in Ann Arbor two years ago. It started by carrying around the Big Ten championship trophy while doing interviews at media day that fall and continued with high-profile incidents like calling Wisconsin “scumbags” on the podcast. He later entered the arena in a ski mask when the Wolverines played the Badgers in Madison. This drawn-out recruitment and commitment to a blueblood like Kansas only solidifies him further as the sport’s top antagonist.

This is all smart business in the NIL era. Dickinson’s top earning potential may well be these next two years of college: He’s not a clear NBA prospect, as somewhat of a plodding post player. Kentucky reportedly bristled with guaranteeing Dickinson a certain amount of NIL money the other schools involved did, and all this has built Dickinson’s following even further, with his podcast account gaining nearly 1,000 Twitter followers in the last month and his personal account gaining nearly 1,800 followers. That growth should only continue after joining a true basketball school and being the undisputed star of the Jayhawks for at least one year.

Now, on the commitment itself: A marriage with Kansas was by far the most logical for Dickinson from a basketball standpoint. The one thing the Jayhawks lacked last season was a traditional post presence, instead having to turn to undersized skilled big KJ Adams Jr. at center. Dickinson is one of the best low-post players in the sport, and Self has a proven track record of getting his big men involved offensively with touches on the block, post pins and lobs.

Dickinson will also get to play with one of the best pure point guards in the country in Dajuan Harris Jr., an elite passer who’ll get the ball to Dickinson in the right spots. That’s a big improvement for Dickinson after getting uneven point guard play each of the past two years at Michigan. Kansas was a potential top-10 team without Dickinson and now a top national title contender with him, regardless of whether wing Kevin McCullar Jr. keeps his name in the NBA draft or returns to school. The team context and fit around Dickinson will be at least as good if not better than it was in 2021, when he was at his best.

The last two years at Michigan with Dickinson as a star were uneven. The Wolverines lost 31 games in two years, and, without a fluky Sweet 16 run in 2022, the legacy of those two years would be even worse. This season’s trip to the NIT despite having two future first-round picks in Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard next to him was such a disappointment that Dickinson’s departure seemed somewhat inevitable, whether that be to the portal or the pro ranks.

That’s why the marriage at Kansas is so compelling. There are no longer any excuses for Dickinson. He’ll be guided by one of the three best coaches in the sport, be surrounded by talented veterans at a place that expects not just Big 12 titles, but national titles. Fair or not, expectations on Dickinson nationally will be extraordinarily high given the spectacle of his recruitment. Kansas will give him the best chance of meeting those. Whether he does will be perhaps the story of the 2023–24 men’s college basketball season.