3 Biggest questions for Michigan Basketball heading into 2020-21

I have been a bit stubborn in my thoughts about the center position heading into the new season. I did not think it was going to be as much of a question mark for Michigan basketball as many others thought.

I may have been slightly too optimistic. The optimism for me comes from the fact that I am so high on true freshman Hunter Dickinson. I truly believe he is going to be elite and end up being one of, if not the best center in the Big Ten by the time his career is over. I still stand by that.

The question mark here is how long will it take Dickinson to be ready to contribute at a high level, and can Austin Davis be that guy if Dickinson needs some time to adjust to the college game?

I’m a big Austin Davis fan. I think he brings great energy, leadership, and post scoring when he’s in the game. However, he’s not a starting center. His defense and rebounding is still below average in my opinion and it’s still unknown how many minutes he’s capable of playing. He hasn’t been a high minutes player in any previous year for Michigan basketball.

I have been saying for weeks that Hunter Dickinson will be the starting center from game one this season. But that may not be the case. Isaiah Livers spoke to the media last week and indicated that if he had to guess a starting five if there was a game tonight, Davis would be the starter at center, not Dickinson.

To be fair, this comment was made before official practices even began, and maybe Livers didn’t want to grant Dickinson that starting spot before seeing him play a lot of five on five. That’s totally possible.

But it’s also possible that Dickinson may not be ready to start from game one and he may need some time. So heading into this season, the center position may be a work in progress for Michigan basketball. And that’s okay. By season’s end, I don’t anticipate this position being a weakness for this team.