KU basketball coach Bill Self announces addition of Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson

LAWRENCE — Hunter Dickinson is officially a part of the Kansas men’s basketball program, with Jayhawks head coach Bill Self announcing the addition Friday.

Dickinson was widely viewed as the top available talent in the transfer portal this year, after his decision to move on from Michigan. Dickinson, a junior center this past season listed at 7-foot-1 and 260 pounds, spent his first three years in college playing for the Wolverines. And he’ll be immediately eligible as a senior this upcoming season.

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“We’re excited,” Self said in a release. “We’ve recruited some really good players over time, but we’ve never recruited anybody who has averaged 17 points a game over three seasons at a Big Ten school like the University of Michigan. He obviously the most ready-made player to step in and put up All-American-type numbers right off the bat than we have ever recruited.”

Dickinson is a multi-time All-Big Ten Conference selection who’s also received praise as an All-America talent. This past season he started all 34 games he appeared in, giving him 89 starts in 94 appearances for his career. As a junior, he averaged 18.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game as he also showcased an ability to step out and hit 3s.

Dickinson’s addition does come amid an offseason that’s had a significant amount of roster turnover at Kansas. He’s one of seven set to be newcomers on next season’s squad, for a team that will likely lose 10 scholarship players from this past season’s roster — seven to the transfer portal, three to the professional ranks. But given Dickinson’s status, who will return and the other newcomers, the Jayhawks are viewed as both a Big 12 Conference title contender and national title contender.

“Hunter has great size at 7-foot-1,” Self said. “He shot 42 percent from three-point range last year. He needs to advance his game more on the perimeter to probably fit in what today’s NBA big men look like and we are excited to work with him on that. He’s been well drilled. He’s been well coached. He’s played at the highest level. He’s guarded the best big men in the country. For him to come to Kansas and come to the Big 12 definitely enhances our outlook for next year’s team being able to do some special things immediately.”

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Hunter Dickinson signs with Kansas men's basketball and transfers