Michigan Basketball: The legend of Hunter Dickinson continues to grow
What can we expect from Hunter Dickinson going forward in 2020?
At this point, the following statement is not hyperbole or recency bias or anything other than a simple fact — Hunter Dickinson has been, and will continue to be, Michigan basketball’s best and most consistent player.
He currently ranks 10th in the entire country at KenPom’s National Player of the Year rating system. That list includes names like Luka Garza, Ayo Dosunmu, Trayce Jackson-Davis, and other bonafide stars of college basketball.
Since senior Austin Davis’ major foot injury that will likely keep him out close to two months, Dickinson has been thrust into a starting role and has flourished. As a starter, he is averaging 19.7 points, 11 rebounds, 0.7 assists, and 2 blocks in 30.7 minutes per game while shooting a blistering 75 percent from the field and 78.6 percent from the free throw line.
In any other conference those are easily first-team all conference numbers. Unfortunately for Dickinson he plays in the Big Ten and so do Luka Garza and Trayce Jackson-Davis, two other big men who will be tough to edge out for those honors.
Not to mention the other standout bigs the conference has to offer in Kofi Cockburn, Micah Potter, and Nate Reuvers.
One of Dickinson’s most intriguing attributes thus far in his collegiate career has been his consistency. He has been the team’s leader in scoring twice, the leading rebounder six times and leading shot blocker seven times. He has yet to have a game where he shoots less than 55.6 percent from the floor and only has two games below the 60 percent mark all season.
Night in and night out, the Wolverines can wonder who will be knocking threes down and who will be the most effective facilitator of the offense, but they always know the answer when they wonder what Hunter Dickinson will contribute — exactly what the team needs to win that night.
Whether Dickinson needs to grab 15 rebounds like he did against Nebraska or score 26 points like he did against Maryland or block 4 shots like he did against Toledo or dish out 4 assists like he did against Oakland, he is always ready to do whatever the game requires of him for his team to come out victorious. He even showed an ability to be comfortable coming off the bench for the first five games of the season.