Hunter Dickinson
Hunter Ryan Dickinson is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association, on a two-way contract with the Birmingham Squadron of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines and the Kansas Jayhawks.
Dickinson attended DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. In high school, he was a Jordan Brand Classic honoree and the Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year in 2020, as well as a two-time state champion.
Dickinson was named a consensus second-team 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball All-American as a freshman for the 2020–21 Big Ten regular season champion Michigan Wolverines. During his three years at Michigan, the school twice reached the NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen twice, advancing to the Elite Eight once. He was a three-time All-Big Ten honoree, leading Michigan in scoring and rebounding in all three seasons. Dickinson transferred to Kansas as a senior and played two seasons there, being granted a fifth year of eligibility. He was a 2024 and 2025 NCAA Men's Basketball All-American, two-time first-team All-Big 12 Conference honoree, and two-time preseason Big 12 Player of the Year. He was the first men's basketball player recognized as an All-American at two different schools.
Early life
Dickinson was born to Kathy and Tim Dickinson on November 25, 2000 in Alexandria, Virginia. Dickinson's mother, Kathy, played volleyball for Niagara. Dickinson's father, Tim, played collegiate baseball at Buffalo State University. He is a fan of the Buffalo Bills.Dickinson has brothers named Ben, Grant, and Jason. His older brother Ben played college basketball for NCAA Division I Binghamton, Loyola Marymount and UNC Greensboro. Ben who attended Gonzaga High School and was a 2011-12 America East All-Rookie Team selection, also played as a graduate student for NCAA Division II Cal State San Marcos. After playing for T. C. Williams High School and the 2015-16 season for Division II Concord University, Grant was affiliated with DII Mount Olive and Atlantic University Sport member CBU Capers.
High school career
Freshman (2016–17)
Dickinson attended DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. As an entering freshman in 2016, the highly regarded Dickinson stood at and joined a lineup that included Josh Carlton. By April 2017, he had offers from Penn State and Notre Dame as well as interest from many top programs. In June, he was ranked as the number nine prospect in the national class of 2020 by ESPN.Sophomore (2017–18)
By December 2017, now a sophomore, Dickinson had grown to. On February 26, 2018, he helped his team capture its first Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship since 2011. A week later, on March 6, Dickinson earned MVP honors helping DeMatha win the Maryland private-school championship, scoring 31 points in the 64-58 victory over Rock Creek Christian Academy.Towards the end of the season, Dickinson was named to the first-team All-WCAC alongside teammate Justin Moore. He was a third-team All-Met selection by The Washington Post, joining junior teammate Moore and fellow sophomore Earl Timberlake. He was also considered one of the two best players in the DC metro area class of 2020, and was ranked 18th in the nation by USA Today.
Junior (2018–19)
The class of 2020 was the first junior class to benefit from expanded official visit rules. Dickinson visited Purdue in September 2018. As a junior, he was ranked as the number four center in the national class of 2020 by 247Sports, but regarded as more of a versatile center with the ability to stretch the court, making him better suited to high-level competition than centers like DC metro rival Qudus Wahab, who focused on the traditional key/low post inside game skill set for a basketball big man. Although DeMatha was knocked out of the WCAC tournament before the finals by St. John's College High School, they repeated as Maryland private-school champions. Dickinson led the team to three consecutive double-digit victories. He earned tournament MVP and posted 20 points in the 85-53 championship-game victory over Rock Creek. In his junior season, Dickinson averaged 17.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. Dickinson repeated as a third-team All-Met selection by The Washington Post, joining senior teammate Moore, fellow junior Timberlake and senior Jahmir Young.National team (2019)
In April 2019, Dickinson was one of 55 athletes invited to compete for a position on the 12-man United States men's national under-19 basketball team to participate in the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup. That June, he was one of 31 players in Colorado Springs during the camp and selection process. When the roster was trimmed to 18 finalists and the subsequent 12-man Team USA, Dickinson was not included.Senior (2019–20)
Dickinson updated his list of college programs he was considering to Duke, Florida State, Michigan and Notre Dame in October 2019, at which time he was ranked 34th by 247 Sports. Dickinson verbally committed Michigan in early December by calling private a meeting with head coach Juwan Howard and assistant coach Phil Martelli on a day when they were in town to scout him at a tournament at DeMatha's home court. Dickinson told Howard that he felt Howard was the best coach to develop Dickinson's game. This was revealed in the press in 2023. He publicly announced his verbal commitment to Michigan with a video posted to Twitter on December 20, at which point he was still ranked 34th overall, and sixth among centers. Todd was among the other verbal commits to Michigan. On January 1, 2020, Dickinson's AAU teammate Terrance Williams also verbally committed to Michigan.By late January 2020, Dickinson was ranked 37th. On January 21, however, he had the chance to go head-to-head against number-one-ranked Evan Mobley while playing Rancho Christian at the Hoophall Classic. Dickinson outscored Mobley 28-22 and led DeMatha to a 72-65 victory. On February 11, 2020, he recorded 40 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in a 71–63 win over St. John's College High School. Dickinson and Timberlake led DeMatha to a 70-56 WCAC championship-game victory over the Roach-led Paul VI Catholic High School. Dickinson earned 2020 All-Met Player of the Year and WCAC Player of the Year honors, and graduated as a three-time first-team All-WCAC selection. He was joined on the All-Met first team by Roach, Timberlake, Corey Dyches, Trevor Keels, Benny Williams, Avery Ford, Xavier Lipscomb, Ronald Polite and future teammate Terrance Williams. He was named Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year for his success in basketball and academics, and his exemplary character. Dickinson was invited to play in the 2020 Jordan Brand Classic, which was cancelled due to the Coronavirus. Despite not making a three-pointer in November and December 2019, Dickinson shot 40 percent from three-point range during his senior year. As a senior, Dickinson averaged 18.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.1 blocks per game, leading his team to a WCAC title.
Recruiting
Dickinson had been one of the key class of 2020 targets for Michigan head coach John Beilein's staff when Beilein announced he would be departing to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers in May 2019. Juwan Howard was named Michigan head coach on May 22 and made an offer to Dickinson on June 26. The Detroit Free Press reported that Dickinson said Michigan was the most aggressive pursuer of his talents. In July, Dickinson listed the top seven schools he was considering: Purdue, Florida State, Louisville, Michigan, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Providence. By August 2019, Dickinson was ranked 30th in the national class of 2020 by 247Sports.Dickinson was a consensus four-star recruit and ranked as the second-best player from Maryland in the 2020 class. On December 20, 2019, he committed to playing college basketball for Michigan over offers from Duke, Florida State and Notre Dame. He said he was drawn by his relationship with Howard, and Michigan's strength and conditioning program.
He joined a Michigan frontline that some thought would return sophomore Colin Castleton and fifth-year Austin Davis. On April 9, however, Castleton entered the transfer portal, and committed to Florida on April 26. By April 17, when Dickinson signed his National Letter of Intent with Michigan, he was ranked 32nd overall and sixth at the center position, according to 247Sports.
College career
Michigan
Freshman season
Dickinson debuted for Michigan on November 25, 2020, scoring 11 points and collecting eight rebounds in a 96–82 win against Bowling Green. Dickinson averaged 13.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and one block per game and shot 73.3 percent from the floor in wins over Ball State and Central Florida. He also recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in the Wolverines' 84–65 win against Ball State. This performance led to him being named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the week ending December 6. He then received the honor for a second consecutive week, this time for the week ending December 13, after he averaged 19.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.5 blocked shots per game in wins over Toledo and Penn State. On December 25, Dickinson recorded 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, for his second career double-double, in an 80–69 victory against Nebraska. He was subsequently named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the week ending December 27. On December 31, Dickinson recorded a career-high 26 points and 11 rebounds, for his third career double-double in an 84–73 victory against Maryland. Dickinson averaged 22.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in wins over Maryland and No. 19/No. 22 Northwestern to help the Wolverines improve to 9–0 on the season. He finished the week shooting 18-for-23 from the field and 9-of-12 from the foul line for an overall shooting percentage of 78, and was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the week ending January 3, 2021, his fourth such accolade. He followed this up with a 28-point performance on January 6 against Minnesota. By the time of his fifth Big Ten Freshman of the Week award on January 11 for the week ending January 10, Michigan had a 10-0 record and Dickinson ranked first among all power conferences players with a.730 field goal percentage and third among all NCAA men's freshman with 18.0 points per game.After winning 5 of the first 7 awards, Dickinson did not win Freshman of the Week again until February 15 when he posted 11 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks against No. 21/No. 21 Wisconsin on February 14, which was Michigan's first 10+-point/15+-rebound/5+-block game since Courtney Sims on February 7, 2004 over 17 years earlier for the 2003–04 Wolverines. The following week Dickinson averaged 16.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game as Michigan defeated Rutgers February 18, 2021 and then defeated No. 4/No. 4 Ohio State on February 21, 2021—Michigan's first rivalry win at Columbus in 7 years. Dickinson was again named Big Ten Freshman of the week; with seven such awards, he was second in conference history to Jared Sullinger. On March 4, Dickinson recorded his fifth career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in a 69–50 rivalry win against Michigan State; the win clinched the 2020–21 Big Ten regular season championship for the 2020–21 Wolverines. They earned a #1 seed in the 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. They reached the Elite Eight, where they lost to #11 seed UCLA 51-49, ending their season. Dickinson scored in double digits in all four of Michigan's games in the tournament.
For the season, Dickinson led Michigan in scoring, rebounding, double-doubles, and 10+ rebounding games. Dickinson was named first-team All-Big Ten by the media, second-team All-Big Ten by the coaches, a Big Ten All-Freshman honoree and the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. His All-Freshman recognition marked Michigan's third straight season with such an honoree, following Ignas Brazdeikis and Franz Wagner ; Michigan would eventually extend the streak to five, with Moussa Diabaté and Jett Howard coming after Dickinson. He was also named a consensus second-team All-American, becoming Michigan's first consensus All-American since Nik Stauskas in 2014 and 13th all time. Dickinson declared himself eligible for the 2021 NBA draft on May 26. As of June 14, he was not projected to be drafted. As the July 7 deadline approached, he was not listed above the mid-second round by anyone, and on July 6, he declared his intent to return to Michigan.