The decisions the Kansas basketball coaching staff make this offseason will be predicated on Hunter Dickinson and his decision to declare for the NBA Draft or stay in school for one more year. The Consensus All-American has until Apr. 16 to enter his name into the draft pool.
While there have been indications that he will return, many Jayhawk fans are waiting for him to make things official. Yesterday, Dickinson hopped on the Field of 68 podcast with college basketball analyst Jeff Goodman in a restaurant outside State Farm Center, the arena where the Final Four is being played. He spoke about still having not made a decision.
"I’ve got two good options: return to school or play professionally. I’m not going to break it (news) here. That was part of the reason coming out here … just my people are out here. My guys are out here, talking to them, really getting feedback and stuff like that, trying to make an educated decision. I’m not trying to feel rushed or anything like that. I’ve got some time so (I’m) just trying to feel it out. I’ll figure out something hopefully relatively soon."Hunter Dickinson
From the sound of it, Dickinson still seems torn about what he will do. He is not projected to be selected in the 2024 draft and has excelled at the college level, but he is 23 years old and might go the G League route. Anything could be on the table for Dickinson.
He also talked about the outcome of the 2023-24 Kansas basketball season and his thoughts on the Final Four.
"It sucks being here. I don’t really care who wins. I’m just going to the game (Monday’s title contest) because I’ve got a ticket. Obviously we had high expectations going in (to the season). We dealt with some injuries. We dealt with some departures. Early on we won some games. We beat some really good teams. We showed how good we could be at times."Hunter Dickinson
You can watch Dickinson and UNC star Armando Bacot join the show from the 8:44-22:53 mark on the YouTube video below.