Michigan Basketball: Predicting stat leaders for the 2020-21 season
By Max S.
Rebounds: Hunter Dickinson
Michigan basketball has not had a player average eight or more rebounds per game in a very long time. (Not counting the eight games that Mitch McGary played in 2013-14). How long has it been? I’m not sure, I stopped looking when I got to the 2002-2003 season.
Michigan has been blessed with some very good centers over the last decade. Mitch McGary, Moe Wagner, and Jon Teske all did nice jobs. But besides McGary, Michigan really hasn’t had an elite rebounding center. I think that changes with Hunter Dickinson.
Dickinson is a more traditional center compared to what John Beilein typically had. He can still shoot, but he prefers to make his living in the paint and do his damage by using his footwork and fundamentals.
A lot of Michigan basketball fans were disappointed in Jon Teske’s rebounding a season ago. For being 7-foot-1, he really struggled at times controlling the glass. Dickinson is also a seven footer but I believe he will spend more of his time in the paint which will allow him to be a more efficient rebounder.
I’m going to make a bold prediction here and predict that as a true freshman, Hunter Dickinson will be the first Michigan player to average eight rebounds per game in a long time.