Hunter Dickinson on leaving Michigan: ‘I cried like a baby’
Former Michigan center Hunter Dickinson wasn’t exactly looking to get out after his third season at U-M, even after a discouraging year in which the Wolverines missed the NCAA Tournament. Several factors led to his surprising defection to Kansas, he said today … and yes, money was a big one.
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Dickinson told ESPN.com he made less than $100,000 in his last season at U-M, far less than many had speculated. He still insisted that wasn’t the main reason he left Michigan. He said it was a “basketball decision” — he wanted to win championships and be coached by people who could utilize big men, help lead him to a long professional career.
Of course, that’s what he told Michigan coach Juwan Howard when he pledged to him four years ago. But telling the coach he was leaving was one of the harder things he’s had to do, Dickinson said, adding he “cried like a baby.” At the same time, Michigan just wasn’t competitive in trying to keep him. His parents learned his earning potential started at a “minimum of $500,000.”
“I think that would make any normal human being a little upset about their situation,” Dickinson said. “Any guy in some desk job that was working way harder and producing way more than a person at another company that wasn’t producing nearly as much as them but they’re making more money, I feel like any normal human being would be a little upset.
“It’s a multibillion-dollar industry. You’ve got coaches making almost $10 million a year. This is not an amateur business … people might take that the wrong way, like you don’t care and you’re only about money. But I think for me, I look at it as trying to expand and grow in the game of basketball. I’m working out every day to grow my business.”
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If he took the highest bid, he added, he wouldn’t have ended up at Kansas.
“A lot of them were pretty open with it,” he said, “Like, ‘This is what you could get if you came here.'”
Kansas, Georgetown, Maryland, Kentucky, and Villanova were his final five after he announced he was leaving Michigan. The Jayhawks won the Dickinson sweepstakes, though, and they’re happy they did.
“He is the most prepared-to-produce player we’ve ever recruited,” coach Bill Self said. “No one has ever arrived here better prepared to produce or receive accolades.”
Which some would say says a lot about Howard and his Michigan program, too. The Wolverines will move on with Tarris Reed at center this fall, hopeful he’ll make a huge leap and help lead Michigan back to the tourney.
