Kansas basketball has experienced its fair share of struggles this season, but Hunter Dickinson is embracing the journey. The star big man is determined to finish his college career strong. With the NCAA Tournament looming, he reflected on his time with the Jayhawks and the lessons that will stick with him forever in an interview with RG.
"It's not been all sunshine and rainbows for me here at Kansas," Dickinson said. "Obviously, we have our ups and our downs. The main thing for me is, just take the bad and the good all of it together. You're going to battle through some adversity in life."
While Dickinson has been a polarizing player during his time in Lawrence, he is easily one of the most skilled offensive players Self has ever coached. He is well on his way to earning another All-Big 12 First Team nod and should be considered for an All-American spot. Dickinson has been especially effective lately, scoring 30+ points in two of his past four outings.
Going from being coached by the highly criticized Juwan Howard to Hall of Famer Bill Self was certainly an adjustment for the Virginia native. He credits Self with teaching him plenty of what he knows about basketball and life in general.
"Coach Self has done a really good job of teaching us not only basketball lessons, but also life lessons in general," Dickinson added. "He creates not only good basketball players, but great men in general. Those are some of the things that I'm gonna try to take with me for the rest of my life."
When Dickinson announced he would be transferring from Michigan, he was immediately labeled the best player to ever hit the portal in NCAA history. He committed to Kansas and has been at the forefront of two preseason No. 1 teams, though both years have been underwhelming for KU standards.
The 7-footer called the decision to leave Ann Arbor one of the hardest of his life. Still, he will always cherish his tenure in Lawrence and learned valuable lessons across those two years.
"I don't think I would've traded my experiences here at Kansas for anything," says Dickinson. "The things I learned here, the things I've experienced here have really been life lessons and something that I think will propel me into whatever I do after Kansas."
Dickinson has officially played his final regular season game at the college level, but he and the Jayhawks will do everything in their power to extend his collegiate career as long as it can possibly go.