Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks have landed the top player in the transfer portal.
Former Michigan star Hunter Dickinson announced his commitment to KU earlier today.
The five-star transfer had not ruled out a return to Michigan until last night when he bid farewell to the Wolverines via a post on social media.
“The initial decision for me to enter the portal was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make,” Dickinson said. “The thought of potentially leaving the place I love and called home for 3 years, was and is extraordinarily difficult to process. After conversations with my family and a lot of time in thought, I realized entering the portal was the best decision for myself and my future.
“I’ve grown and learned so much in my 3 years at Michigan, and if I could do it all over again out of high school there is no doubt in my mind I would make the same choice. That being said, it’s time for me to move on.”
Dickinson visited Maryland, Kentucky, Georgetown, KU and Villanova during the process since entering the portal. The 7-foot-1 center is arguably the most sought-after player of the transfer portal era.
As a true freshman at Michigan during the 2020-21 campaign, Dickinson garnered second-team All-American honors and was a first-team All-Big Ten selection. He led the Wolverines to a No. 1 seed and an Elite Eight appearance in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, averaging 14.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots per game.
In the 2021-22 season, Dickinson averaged 18.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 BPG. Michigan barely made the 2022 NCAA Tournament field as an 11-seed.
However, the Wolverines advanced to the Round of 32 with a 75-63 win over Colorado St. Dickinson produced 21 points, six rebounds, four blocked shots and one steal.
Despite trailing by six with less than seven minutes left in a second-round matchup vs. third-seeded Tennessee, Michigan rallied to capture a 76-68 victory. Dickinson was the catalyst, tallying 27 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block. The Wolverines ended up falling to Villanova in the Sweet 16.
As a true junior this past season, Dickinson averaged 18.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.5 APG. Michigan was a bubble team throughout late February and into early March.
After Dickinson buried a deep buzzer-beating trey to force overtime in an 87-79 home win over Wisconsin, Juwan Howard’s squad went into Illinois on a three-game winning streak and on a 6-2 run in its eight previous contests.
But Michigan came up short against the Fighting Illini, who won 91-87 in double OT. Then in their regular-season finale, the Wolverines lost another OT game at Indiana, 75-73. When Howard’s team lost 62-50 to a slumping Rutgers squad at the Big Ten Tournament, it was sent to the NIT, where it lost at Vanderbilt in the opening round.
When FanDuel opened its odds to win the 2024 NCAA Tournament in early April, Kansas shared the fourth-shortest odds (16/1) with Marquette to cut the nets down in Glendale, AZ. That number has been adjusted to 12/1.
Duke remains the 11/1 ‘chalk.’ The next-shortest odds behind KU belong to Michigan St. (14/1), UConn (15/1), Houston (15/1), Kentucky (16/1), Marquette (17/1) and Arkansas (17/1).
Self has four incoming freshmen, including five-star point guard Elmarko Johnson. The three other players are four-star prospects.
Dickinson becomes KU’s third addition to the roster from out of the portal, joining Arterio Morris and Nicolas Timberlake. Morris, a five-star prospect out of high school, averaged 4.6 points and 1.4 RPG as a true freshman at Texas this past year.
Timberlake, a super senior who played in 122 games for Towson across five seasons, averaged 17.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.0 SPG in 2022-23. He has hit 3’s at a 41.6 percent (22-23) and a 40.6 percent clip (21-22) in the past two years.