Michigan Basketball: Wolverines stack up well for Hunter Dickinson

2020 four-star recruit Hunter Dickinson announced his top seven teams Saturday and Michigan basketball was among them. How does UM stack up?

Juwan Howard only has one commitment to show for all of his hard work as the head coach of Michigan basketball. But soon, it seems like another will come via the 2020 recruiting class.

One name that kept open the possibility of joining Michigan basketball is four-star power forward Hunter Dickinson, who announced his top seven Saturday and included the Wolverines in that group along with Louisville, Florida State, Purdue, Providence, North Carolina and Notre Dame.

Dickinson is a 7-foot-2 big man out of the state of Maryland and according to the 247 sports composite rankings, he is listed as No. 30 overall in 2020 and sixth among centers. He also had an interest in the Wolverines before Howard even became the head coach. Here is what Dickinson said recently according to the Michigan Insider($):

"“I was interested in Michigan before Juwan Howard was there with coach Beilein. Now that they’ve hired Juwan Howard, I’d say my interest is, if not the same, probably a little bit more. I feel like he’s a big man who says that he can get me to the league. He has the connections and the abilities to get me there. I feel like that’s a really good option for me.”"

That positive impression seems to have stuck as Dickinson included Michigan basketball in his top seven. Howard has a solid reputation for working with big guys and despite handing out five offers to five-star talents, Dickinson has also been a priority.

At 7-foot-2, he is a unique guy for today’s college game in that he is extremely skilled around the basket. You don’t see him step out and take a number of 3-pointers but as Jon Teske has shown us, that skill can be developed.

What he does do is draw the attention of defenses. Dickinson has a number of nifty moves in the post but he also knows how to find his teammates out of the double team. In terms of just a post-up presence, he would be the best Michigan basketball has had since Moritz Wagner.

I realize that Moe spent much of his time on pick-and-pop and shooting from deep, but for long stretches, have would take advantage of a mismatch down in the post. The Lousiville NCAA tournament game comes to mind, as well as the win at East Lansing, where he made that incredible move to the hoop, making the entire Spartans defense look silly.

Dickinson may not be quite that good yet, but he reminds me a lot of Ethan Happ. He’s a good scorer, shooter and passer. And with Howard’s proven ability to develop bigs, he could be an ideal fit. It’s at least a very good selling point. So is the open starting job at center following Teske’s departure.

All that plays into Michigan’s favor but the next step is getting on him on campus for a visit so Howard can introduce his system. North Carolina, Louisville and Notre Dame are going to be the biggest contenders. The Irish already down 67 percent of his crystal ball projections.

Yet, those predictions were all well before Howard came into the picture and in terms of Dickinson, Howard can be a game-changer. If not, he’s done enough to get Michigan basketball in contention.