Hunter Dickinson identifies where he wants to improve at Kansas

After spending three seasons at Michigan, star center Hunter Dickinson decided to enter the transfer portal and join Kansas for the 2023-2024 basketball season.

Dickinson was dominant during is time in Ann Arbor, but is looking to improve his game before he debuts with the Jayhawks. And on ‘Rock Chalk Unplugged’, Dickinson revealed to hosts Mitch Lightfoot and Chris Teahan what areas he’d like to grown in ahead of the season.

“I think just defensively, but also in transition,” Dickinson said. “I think those are the two biggest things that I’ve seen a big difference here at Kansas.”

For the last two seasons Dickinson has been a top-five rebounder and shot blocker in the Big Ten Conference, averaging a career-high 9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game last season. But apparently, for the Wolverines, he could have an even bigger responsibility on the defensive end of the floor.

“They’re asking a lot more from me defensively here and I think just goes to the style of play in the Big 12. It’s more up and down and so that kind of refers to my thing of transition, I think I’m a be out there running more,” Dickinson said.

Dickinson may be accustomed to playing in more half-court offensive sets at Michigan, but will now have the opportunity to off his athleticism in the open floor in a more uptempo style of offense under Bill Self. He’s a career 57% shooter from the field that’s averaged 17.2 points per game, but more easy buckets around the basket in transition could make those numbers increase even more.

“I think that will help me in my development, showcasing that I’m more versatile and stuff like that. So that’s something that I’m super excited about, just ready to go,” Dickinson said.

Hunter Dickinson on leaving Michigan

Hunter Dickinson had plenty of success at Michigan, a major college basketball program. So, it didn’t necessarily make sense for an outsider to transfer. However, Dickinson knew exactly what he needed.

“Once the season ended, that’s when I kind of got to thinking about what my next steps were going to be. 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,” Dickinson said.

“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.”

On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this report