Hunter Dickinson reveals Michigan held players-only meeting prior to Maryland game

Michigan was off to one of the more disappointing starts for any team in the country, but a players-only meeting may have changed the course of their season.

To illustrate, the Wolverines suffered their fifth loss of the season at home to Central Michigan, but then turned things around and absolutely dismantled Maryland 81-46 earlier this week. According to Michigan star Hunter Dickinson, a meeting with the rest of his teammates was the difference between the two games.

“I think it was one of those situations where we were playing — we played the Maryland game like we’ve just lost to Central Michigan. I think it’s cliche to say that, but we were playing desperate. We were playing like we needed to turn this around very fast, or the season could go downhill,” started Dickinson. “So for us, we knew that the reason why we lost to Central Michigan is we just got outplayed and out-hustled. So going into the Maryland game, we were like yeah, we’re going to try to give it out all.

“We had different types of meetings, amongst the team, amongst just the players. Just talks about how we need to go through the rest of the season. There was like a heart-to-heart. Obviously we have the talent. We’ve shown that in the games. If you really want to look at it, ten or so points go different ways, we could be like honestly 12-1 right now, just if a couple certain points went different ways. We’re not as bad as the 8-5 record shows. We’ve had games where we’ve just folded at the end. For us, we’ve got to keep that in mind when we’re going into these games. Like, we’re talented. We’re a very talented team. It’s just a matter of are we going to come out and bring it offensively, are we going to bring it defensively? Are we going to play as a team, are we going to do our assignments? I think that it’s a matter of us not beating us out there.”

Continuing, Dickinson continued to peel back the curtain on Michigan’s players-only meeting, explaining how it helped play a huge role in their success against Maryland.

“I would say it was Jace’s [Jace Howard] idea. It was the day after the game in the morning. It was just like, I feel like people didn’t really know what to expect out of it because you know, I don’t think we’ve had one — we might’ve had one similar to this one last year, but I don’t think it was like, as — not like emotional, but I would say heartfelt. Like, it was — I feel like guys in the locker room really had a look in the mirror with themselves,” explained Dickinson. We were really trying to give constructive criticism to the rest of the team. We just really went around and tried to, I would say tried to be as open and tell it like it is as possible. You’re not going to get anything accomplished if you’re trying to beat around the bush with things. Trying to save people’s feelings and stuff like that. You’ve just got to tell it like it is honestly. That’s — I mean, we’re all 18 and over. At this point, you’re considered an adult, so for us, you’ve got to have that heart-to-heart with somebody you can call your brother. If they take it personal or if they take it the wrong way, that’s on them.

“Everybody should realize that the people in the locker room only want the best for each other, and we only want to see each other succeed, because when were all succeeding individually, then the team is succeeding as a whole. So I think that it was just a really good heart-to-heart with people, with themselves but also amongst their teammates, and you were able to see kind of that emotion that we had in the locker room out on the court.”

Alas, Michigan’s season is far from over, and it looks like they may have changed the course of their season. Hunter Dickinson and company will look to continue their success on Wednesday, as the Wolverines welcome Penn State to Ann Arbor.