The transfer portal landed a big name from a big man on Friday in a stunning bit of news as former top-50 recruit Hunter Dickinson, a 7-foot-1 center who led Michigan in scoring and rebounding each of the last three seasons, entered the transfer portal, according to multiple reports. Dickinson hits the portal after three seasons but is a graduate transfer who will be immediately eligible wherever he chooses to play next.
Dickinson signed with Michigan out of high school in 2020 out of DeMatha Catholic in Maryland over two dozen offers from the likes of Duke, Florida State, Louisville, Alabama, Providence, North Carolina and others. At the time of his commitment he chose the Wolverines over finalists Duke, Notre Dame and Florida State.
Upon arrival in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Dickinson immediately made his presence felt as one of the most impactful freshmen in college basketball and one of the most imposingly physical bigs in the sport. He averaged 14.1 points and 7.4 rebounds as a true freshman en route to earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors on a Michigan team that earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Dickinson improved upon those numbers in 2021-22 with averages of 18.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game before turning in relatively similar production last season in a disappointing 18-16 campaign that finished with UM missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015.
Dickinson's combination of size, experience and production at the highest level of college basketball likely makes him the top available player in the transfer portal this cycle to date. He joins an already-star-studded group of players to hit the portal that includes former five-star recruit Kel'el Ware of Oregon, Caleb Love of North Carolina and Kentucky point guard Sahvir Wheeler, among others.