Kansas basketball’s Hunter Dickinson featured on Jayhawker Podcast

One of the newest members of the Kansas basketball team – and one who will likely be spotlighted all season long by local and national media – recently sat down with former Jayhawks and hosts Wayne Simien and Greg Gurley on the latest episode of The Jayhawker Podcast.

Ballyhooed center Hunter Dickinson joined the show to discuss how he ended up at Kansas, what were some of the deciding factors in his decision, and what he hopes to accomplish this year as a Jayhawk.

Although Dickinson chose to play for Kansas after entering the transfer portal this spring, it turns out that KU wasn’t really on his radar coming out of high school.

“Kansas came to a game, but they never really recruited me too hard,” Dickinson said. “It was kind of unique how coming into the portal I knew they were one of the schools I wanted to reach out to me because of the success they’d had, not only as a team, but with big men as well.”

Dickinson went on to say that he never envisioned himself playing for KU when he was younger.

“I’ve definitely watched Kansas basketball throughout the years, always knew about them. But I never really thought I’d see myself at Kansas honestly … Growing up I’d always be like ‘Who would want to go to Kansas when you can go to Duke or North Carolina?’ But as I matured, and especially after the visit, it’s easy to see why somebody would pick Kansas with the community, facilities, the coaching staff, and the people here.”

Much to the delight of Bill Self and Jayhawk fans, Dickinson did change his mind about playing for Kansas.

However, Dickinson shared that there is still a small, unsettled grievance with his new head coach.

“A lot of people don’t know this, but Coach Self actually coached me when I tried out for USA Basketball (U-19),” Dickinson said. “He did cut me though, which created a little bit of animosity I will say. When I first went to Michigan, I was hoping we’d play Kansas because I felt like I’d have a chip on my shoulder. Now that it’s come full circle, I still want an apology from him, but I’ll get over it,” he said jokingly.

For Hunter, he said choosing Kansas was about basketball and trying to win a national championship under one of the best coaches of all time. His mom though, had other reasons for wanting him to pick Kansas.

“I think McCarthy Hall sold it for my mom on the visit,” he said. “I think she saw the 9-foot doorways and the tall sinks and was like ‘Hunter, I think you’d be dumb if you didn’t come here.’”

Dickinson said the Lawrence community and Kansas fans have been great to him so far. It’s part of the reason why he’s looking forward to playing in front of them in just a few short months.

“It is crazy that I’m walking around (Lawrence) and people know who I am and I haven’t even scored a basket yet,” Dickinson said. “I’m so excited for Late Night in the Phog. I can’t wait for that, and then the first game right after that … Everyone’s been talking to me about how special Allen Fieldhouse is, and I can already get a sense for how crazy it is. I just can’t wait to be out there with the fans.”

Having played in the Big Ten, Dickinson is no stranger to tough environments and tough competition.

Kansas is set to face many tough opponents this year as they have one of the hardest schedules in the country, including matchups against defending national champions UCONN, Kentucky, Indiana, and a slew of strong, potential opponents in a loaded Maui Invitational.

Dickinson said he embraces road games and says there’s just something special about it being you and your teammates against everybody else in the gym.

He also said the tough matchups is one of the reasons why he elected to be a Jayhawk this upcoming season.

“That’s why a person like me comes to Kansas. I want to play against the best. And if you want to play against the best, you’ve got to be the best…”

When asked whether he plans to stick around Lawrence for one year or two years, Dickinson didn’t close the door on being here for more than just this season, but made it clear his focus is on the upcoming season and making it as good as it can possibly be.

“I think Coach Self has a good plan for me. We’re going to try and develop as much as we can and try to win as many games as we can together and just see where it goes from there.”