Kansas basketball: Will Hunter Dickinson win National Player of the Year in 2024?

Kansas basketball center Hunter Dickinson was mentioned as one of eight potential players who could win the 2023-24 National Player of the Year award.

On3 college basketball expert Jamie Shaw released a list of preseason frontrunners for 2023-24 National Player of the Year, and Hunter Dickinson — the Kansas Jayhawks most prized offseason acquisition — is at the forefront.

The Michigan transfer has not played an official game as a Jayhawk but is already receiving recognition as one of the nation’s top players. Across three seasons at U of M, Dickinson averaged 17.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks in 94 games. Shaw wrote this about the highly touted Virginia native:

“Hunter Dickinson was named second-team All-Big Ten for each of his three collegiate seasons at Michigan. He was among the most talented players to enter the transfer portal for this cycle, and Kansas head coach Bill Self has a long track record of success with the center position. The question with Dickinson is that the talented Michigan teams that were centered around him over the last two seasons – which produced four NBA Draft picks – finished 37-31 and never really won anything of note. Kansas is getting No. 1 love this pre-season, and Dickinson is the most notable player on that talented roster. If they make a run to remain among the top teams in the country, Dickinson would most certainly be in this conversation.”

Many players are cited on preseason watch lists, especially at a prestigious program like KU — but nothing often comes to fruition. After all, only one Kansas basketball player has taken home NPOY (Frank Mason III) since 1989. That begs the question: Is there a real chance for Hunter Dickinson to be holding up hardware at season’s end?

The straightforward answer is probably not. When you take into account just how much talent this Kansas team has, there will be games where Dickinson does not show up as impressive on the state sheet. He could be making his presence felt through rebounding or playmaking rather than scoring. Unlike his days at Michigan, he won’t need to carry his team’s entire offensive weight any longer.

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To make it clear, this isn’t a knock on Dickinson. I do believe he will be one of the best players in the country and one of the most talented Jayhawks in the Bill Self era. However, the ball will be distributed to several scorers, which is not the case for teams like Purdue, where reigning NPOY Zach Edey attracts all the defensive attention.

It’s worth adding that there is a fine line between being a dominant player and being the only player a team can rely on. While Bill Self wants Dickinson to perform to the best of his ability, there also needs to be others stepping up to the occasion. The team should be thought of as Hunter Dickinson and the Jayhawks, not Hunter Dickinson’s Jayhawks.

There were stretches last season in which Jalen Wilson was the only player consistently showing up each night. During these instances, he had no one else to depend on, yet he was a finalist for nearly every single postseason award. If something similar goes down this year, Kansas could once again be an early-round exit. But if the Kansas basketball team can be a cohesive unit without having to force Dickinson the ball every possession, the team will maintain its national championship hopes. So be it if Dickinson has to forgo some personal achievements.

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