All-American Hunter Dickinson transfers to Kansas over Kentucky, Villanova

Former Michigan All-American 7-footer Hunter Dickinson will transfer to Kansas, he announced Thursday via Twitter. Here’s what you need to know:

• Dickinson took unofficial visits to hometown Maryland and Georgetown and then in the last 10 days, official visits to (in order) Kansas, Kentucky and Villanova. News broke of Dickinson’s decision to transfer in late March.
• He averaged 18.5 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 56 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from 3-point range last season for the Wolverines. For his three-year Michigan career, Dickinson averaged 17.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
• Dickinson is a two-time All-Big Ten performer and won Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors in 2021. Michigan was 18-16 last season, missing the NCAA Tournament.
• Dickinson is the No. 1-ranked player in The Athletic’s college basketball transfer portal rankings.

The Athletic’s instant analysis:

Dickinson’s continued development

Dickinson is the most accomplished player to ever hit the transfer portal, and his addition vaults Kansas into the national title conversation.

The former Michigan star is the type of weapon you can build an entire offense around. He is a monster with his back to the basket. He was a second-team All-American as a freshman when he was dominant as just an interior scorer who really could only go to his right shoulder. His game has really rounded out since then. He can still simply overpower bigs on the block and is really good at getting to his left hand, but he’s capable of scoring over either shoulder and has a wider array of post moves. He’s developed a perimeter game, as both a shooter and playmaker. He made 42.1 percent of his 3s this past season, and he’s capable of attacking off the dribble. Michigan used him to initiate dribble hand-off action, and he has great feel for making reads in these situations. He’s so good in the post that he almost requires an immediate double team, but he’s also one of the best passing bigs in the country. He sees the whole floor and is really smart at getting to his spots to make sure he has an angle to pass out of double-teams. — Moore

Why not the NBA for Dickinson?

The reason Dickinson hasn’t left for the NBA is his mobility and concerns about how he would fare defensively at the next level. But Dickinson has actually turned into an effective college defender. He usually is able to keep the ball in front of him and he’s so big that he’s hard to score over. He also stays out of foul trouble — he committed only 2.3 fouls per 40 minutes this past season — he always seems prepared for his individual matchup. Some teams would go at him in pick-and-roll, where he’d play drop coverage for the Wolverines and give up some jump shots, but there were some instances where he showed he could play more aggressive ball-screen defense. I think he’s better than…