Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson says draft decision could come ‘sooner rather than later’
Kansas senior center Hunter Dickinson blocked some shots, hit some straight-on 3s and drove the lane for some slam dunks while also monitoring shooting drills and taking pictures with 200 or so youths for 4 1/2 hours Saturday at his youth basketball camp held at Sports Pavilion Lawrence.
What the 7-foot-2 native of Alexandria, Virginia did not do was reveal if he’s entering his name in the 2024 NBA Draft or returning to KU for a super-senior season.
“I’d like to get it done sooner rather than later, try to get it over with,” Dickinson told The Star, speaking of his upcoming decision while exiting the Pavilion with teammates Justin Cross and Chris Carter, who also were counselors at the FlexWork Management-sponsored Dickinson camp with fellow KU walk-on Patrick Cassidy.
Dickinson has until 10:59 p.m. Central on April 27 to declare for the draft if he wishes to do so. He could enter and still remove his name by May 29 to retain college eligibility.
“Work out, train, try to decide what I want to do for the next year, get better hopefully,” Dickinson said, when asked what’s ahead on his schedule.
Since the season ended he said he’s been “having fun with my teammates, hanging out with them. I really enjoyed my year with them. I feel they are more than teammates. They are friends.”
On Saturday, the Dickinson campers were part of a hectic scene at Rock Chalk Park on the west side of Lawrence. KU’s softball team was to play No. 1-ranked Texas at 2 p.m — 30 minutes after the conclusion of Dickinson’s one-day camp. Meanwhile, several thousand fans filed in and out of the track facility at Rock Chalk Park, coming and going for events at the 101st Kansas Relays. Suffice it to say all parking spots were taken in and around Rock Chalk Park on Saturday.
“Yes, with the Relays it was crazy,” Dickinson said. “I know it was a busy weekend. But I’m super happy (the campers) were able to come here and hopefully had fun. It went by really fast. I didn’t think it was going to go by that fast. I hope they got better and hope we can do it again soon. ”
Dickinson has been monitoring KU’s recent activity in the transfer portal.
“I’m super happy AJ was able to commit,” he said of Wisconsin sophomore guard AJ Storr, second-team all-Big Ten last season, “same with Zeke (Mayo, former South Dakota State guard), same with Riley Kugel (former Florida guard). Coach (Bill) Self knows what he’s doing in the portal. I think he’s trying to assemble a really good team, so we’ll see.”
Dickinson, who played three seasons at Michigan before transferring to KU, averaged 17.9 points a game on 54.8% shooting during the 2023-24 season at KU. He hit 23 of 65 3s for 35.4% and 68 of 109 free throws for 62.4%. Dickinson, a first-team all-Big 12 pick, averaged 10.9 rebounds per game with 47 blocked shots and 76 assists to 58 turnovers.
