Kansas basketball: Hunter Dickinson says ‘atmosphere was insane’ in Allen Fieldhouse debut

Kansas basketball star Hunter Dickinson was thrilled to see the energy Jayhawks fans brought in his Allen Fieldhouse debut.

The No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks opened their regular season with an overpowering victory over the NC Central Eagles to move to 1-0. They led by 41 points at halftime, and Bill Self hardly played his starting lineup by the time the second half arrived.

Although there was a scrimmage between KU and Fort Hays State last week in Allen Fieldhouse, this was technically the venue’s first showing of the 2023-24 season. It was also the first time newcomers like Hunter Dickinson, Elmarko Jackson, and Nick Timberlake competed in the legendary arena.

Dickinson — the transfer portal’s most prized possession this past offseason — played at Michigan for three years prior to transferring to Kansas basketball in May. He was pleasantly surprised by the crowd’s turnout, even in a rather unimportant game.

“The atmosphere was insane,” he said about Kansas’ home court. “I had been hearing about it in my recruiting, and when I committed here, and ever since I’ve been here, I’ve heard so much about Allen Fieldhouse and it lived up to it tonight.”

Kansas basketball fans were ecstatic to watch the Preseason All-American play his inaugural competition as a Jayhawk. The crowd erupted when he sunk his third 3-pointer of the contest through seven minutes of play. He finished the game with 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and two blocks on 8-of-9 shooting (3-of-3 from three) and 24 minutes played.

In his postgame press conference, Dickinson noted that some people might have overreacted from the team’s poor showing in its pair of scrimmages. He thinks the best is yet to come for KU.

While the Allen Fieldhouse crowd was terrific on Monday, Dickinson won’t believe how loud people in the stands can get when playing games that mean something more.