Hunter Dickinson has ‘championship or bust’ mindset with Kansas

Former Michigan Wolverines star Hunter Dickinson took his talents to Kansas over the offseason, and his goal in mind is to win a title with the Jayhawks.

All the talk about NIL and everything in-between as the main factor for Dickinson’s decision can evaporate, as Dickinson explained that winning a national title won’t just bring him joy, but will help propel his NBA stock, as well.

“I’d say winning a national championship, I think that one probably solves everything,” explained Dickinson. “Especially just being at Michigan I had averaged I think 15 my freshman year and like 19 the last two years and I’ve seen that really doesn’t help your your draft stock as much as winning a national championship can do. I think winning pretty much solves everything and you come to a program like Kansas where expectations are always super high.

“This year it feels almost like championship or bust with the roster we have and so I feel like being a veteran as I’ve matured throughout the years I feel like with winning that kind of solves a lot of problems. It can make you look better than what you are so I feel like winning a national championship is definitely, if nothing else, that would be the one goal I pick.”

Music to Kansas faithful’s ears. That’s what you want to hear from the big fish you reeled in from the transfer portal.

Evidently, Dickinson is supremely motivated to win a title, and he’ll have a better shot to do so at Kansas than he had at Michigan. The Jayhawks are primed to make another run next season, especially now with the big man’s talent on their roster.

Moreover, Dickinson added that he felt like he needed something new in his career, and that’s why he decided to leave Michigan and join the Jayhawks over the offseason, and now he’s hoping to take advantage of his opportunity.

“Once the season ended, that’s when I kind of got to thinking about what my next steps were going to be,” Dickinson said. “I knew that I had an opportunity to, you know, try to test the NBA waters, I knew I could go back to Michigan. Or the NCAA has the transfer portal. That’s been a hot topic nowadays.”

“So I just felt like I needed something new. I feel like, in three years at Michigan, I did some great things, made some memories there. But I just felt like I wasn’t yet ready for the draft and I wanted to do one more year. Try to win a national championship, try to develop a little bit more. That’s when I decided to enter the transfer portal and just tried to explore new opportunities with that.”

Time will tell if Hunter Dickinson made the right decision, but he’ll certainly have a chance to compete for a title with Kansas next season.