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Hunter Dickinson’s journey to Kansas after transferring from the University of Michigan wasn’t strictly about maximizing his name, image and likeness earnings.
Speaking to ESPN’s Dan Murphy, Dickinson explained the Jayhawks weren’t the “highest bidder” and that other programs said he’d be able to earn more NIL money when he was trying to find a new school.
Dickinson was a surprise entrant into the transfer portal after a successful three-year stint at Michigan. He explained on the Roundball Podcast in May his decision to leave the Wolverines was a selfish one.
“It took a lot of courage,” Dickinson said (h/t The Athletic’s Austin Meek). “I did have a legacy there, and I basically gave that up to try to be selfish and do what’s best for me and my career and not what’s best for anybody else’s career.”
Dickinson also noted he earned “less than six figures” during the 2022-23 season at Michigan, and he expects to earn more than that at Kansas.
Meek noted in February that Michigan was behind other major athletic programs across the country in the NIL race because it didn’t launch major collectives that would be able to provide financial support to athletes until the summer of 2022.
According to Meek, one proposed nonprofit foundation that “sought to raise $250 million by targeting the football program’s wealthiest boosters” never got off the ground.
While that proposed nonprofit was aimed more at the football program, the basketball program has started to fall behind.
Per 247Sports composite rankings, the Wolverines’ incoming class for 2023-24 ranks fourth in the Big Ten with five total commits, including four 4-star prospects.
Michigan has gone 37-31 over the past two seasons and missed the NCAA tournament in 2022-23. Head coach Juwan Howard led the program to the Elite Eight and Sweet 16 in back-to-back years in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
Dickinson led the Wolverines in scoring and rebounding in each of the past three seasons. He will join a Kansas squad that has the fourth-best incoming freshman class in the country, led by 5-star small forward Gradey Dick.
