The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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18 THE WOLVERINE JUNE / JULY 2022 BY JOHN BORTON F orget every other incidental in Michigan basketball's roster- changing whirlwind. Junior center Hunter Dickinson opted to come back, meaning U-M is back in business as a Big Ten and NCAA-run contender. The 7-foot-1, 260-pound center kept it simple in the April 24 declaration on his Twitter account, delivering a four- word pronouncement earning a coast- to-coast standing ovation from Michi- gan basketball fans. Above a dramatic photo of Dickinson adorned in his No. 1 Michigan jersey, it said: "I AIN'T DONE YET." Aside from an English prof or two, Tom Izzo and the rest of Michigan's 2022-23 opponents, few suppressed huge smiles. Dickinson, a second-team All-Amer- ican and former Big Ten Freshman of the Year, stands as a game-changer for the Wolverines. He's already on the verge of 1,000 career points (988), pacing the Wolverines in scoring (18.6 average) and rebounding (8.6) last year. Dickinson dropped 33 points on the Spartans in Michigan's Crisler Center blowout of Izzo's crew, managing to enrage the opposing head coach with his stares at the MSU bench. The young man whom assistant coach Phil Martelli says would one day make a great WWE villain is more than ready to play the hero role for U-M once again. "I just didn't feel like I was done with college basketball yet," Dickinson said on Michigan's "Defend The Block" pod- cast. "I feel like I still had more out there to prove and more still to work on. I feel like when I go to the NBA eventually — I could have gone last year, and I know I could have gone this year — when I get there, I want to be as ready as possible for the next level." There's little question Dickinson — who did not appear high on NBA Draft boards — has plenty of reasons to return. Those include a lucrative NIL (name, image and likeness) deal that stands to bring him seven figures in his junior year, according to several reports. MAJOR IMPACT FROM DICKINSON'S RETURN Brian Boesch, Michigan radio's play- by-play man for basketball broadcasts who also hosts the "Defend The Block" podcast, insists the impact of Dickin- son's return is hard to overstate. "It means everything," Boesch said. "To have a guy like Hunter return to be the focal point of a program that, let's face it, the expectations are to reach the second weekend of the NCAA Tourna- ment, at least. They've done it five con- secutive tournaments. "I think he goes into next season as the Big Ten Player of the Year. He told me on our podcast that he didn't want the distraction, saying 'I wanted to lock in, not going through the [NBA] process again.'" He ended that talk early and now has his sights set on not only prepping for a huge Michigan basketball season but also getting his own game more ready for the next level. "We all saw what he meant to the team last year," Boesch said. "That was when the pressure on him was increas- ing. He had to deal with double teams, triple teams. This wasn't his freshman season, where he was able to operate a lot more frequently in one-on-one situations. "There's still plenty of room for him to grow in his game. I still think there is a real path for him in the NBA, once he takes that step." Boesch also noted how quickly things can change. Entering his sophomore season with the Wolverines, Dickinson was considered by many a lock to depart for the NBA at year's end. "If we were doing this on April 28, 2021, I don't think we ever would have thought of this as a possibility," Boesch said of Dickinson's return. "But times change. The NIL changes. The basket- ball and the educational side certainly changed a bit, too." Dickinson noted if everything works out the way he wants it to with his classes, he could actually graduate from Michigan in three years. Plus, he could leave Ann Arbor already close to mil- lionaire status. "That's obviously a big part of it," Boesch said. "He didn't say this, but I think the NIL kind of opened his eyes to the possibility of coming back. That opened the door. "It's a unique situation, where you have a football program in Ann Ar- bor that just won the Big Ten football championship, yet I feel like if there's a most-recognizable athlete on campus, it's Hunter. "Maybe No. 2 through X would be football players — I don't know what the number is. But I do think Hunter is the most recognizable player on campus." He's also one of the most intrigu- ing. Dickinson speaks his mind, adding a bit of diplomacy to his media game in his sophomore year, but not hold- ing back when he has a point to make. He verbally hammered Texas Tech head coach Mark Adams for not signing off on transfer Terrence Shannon Jr.'s desire to take summer classes at Michigan. Shannon appeared as if he were go- ing to transfer to Michigan but instead wound up heading to Big Ten rival Illinois. "He is a coward," Dickinson said of Adams. "How are you going to deny a kid the chance to play where he wanted A MAMMOTH KEEP A MAMMOTH KEEP Hunter Dickinson Becomes The Big One That Didn't Get Away Dickinson, perhaps the most recognizable athlete on campus, returns to Michigan with an opportunity to graduate in three years while earning lucrative NIL endorsement deals in his junior season. PHOTO COURTESY HUNTER DICKINSON/TWITTER