If not for Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson, North Carolina Central head coach LeVelle Moton might have been the star of Monday’s season opener.
Following a 99-56 victory for No. 1 Kansas, Moton was extremely thoughtful and candid during his nine-minute postgame press conference with the media. He admitted his brand-new roster was overwhelmed right away, and simply didn’t have the talent to keep the Jayhawks from getting up by as many as 55 before KU’s walk-ons closed out the contest.
So when Moton was asked how an opposing team is supposed to defend Dickinson, he offered up the only solution that he could think of — given his familiarity with the KU big man.
“First you got to pray. Might have to go to church and get a strong service,” Moton said. “He’s going to be a problem. He’s not only going to be a problem for North Carolina Central, I can assure you that. He’s going to be a problem for everyone.”
Dickinson, who is arguably the most talented transfer in the portal era, dazzled in his regular-season debut for Kansas. The former Michigan standout scored 21 points on an efficient 8-of-9 shooting, including 3-for-3 from long range, to go along with eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks in 23-plus minutes.
While most of Dickinson’s production came early and often, he actually missed his first shot of the game. Dickinson grabbed the rebound off a miss by Kevin McCullar Jr., but came up short on the putback attempt. He corralled his own miss and converted the second try en route to scoring seven unanswered points to begin the game.
Dickinson didn’t miss a shot for the rest of the night after that. Dickinson, who had an over/under of 16.5 points at DraftKings ahead of Monday’s opener, scored 15 before he subbed out for the first time at the second media timeout. He finished with 17 first-half points, helping the Jayhawks establish complete control of the contest.
“He got us off to a great start,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “He was perfect, basically, in the first half. He hadn’t shot the ball well from beyond the arc consistently, but he is a good 3-point shooter. He thought every one was going in tonight, so that was great to see.”
“The one thing that I would be critical of is that we had a big size advantage, and I don’t think he got to the post near as much as he could have,” Self added.
But that’s what made Dickinson’s offensive outburst even more impressive. He delivered all that production without hitting the easy button as a 7-foot-2 big man against a North Carolina Central team that didn’t have anyone taller than 6-foot-9 on the roster.
According to Synergy Sports Technology, Dickinson scored just four points on two post-up plays (both in the second half) on Monday. With Michigan last season, Dickinson ranked in the 98th percentile in post-up usage and averaged 0.997 points per possession on such plays. To put it simply, it’s a huge part of his game that wasn’t on display in the opener.
In addition, there were fewer pick-and-rolls involving Dickinson against the Eagles. He set plenty of screens, but would often drift toward the perimeter. This was an area where Dickinson averaged 1.106 points per possession as the roll man for the Wolverines a season ago, which was rated “very good” by Synergy.
That’s what happens when you are shooting the ball as well as Dickinson was on Monday. His 3-for-3 effort from long range marked the seventh time in his career that he’s hit at least three triples in a game, with his career-high being a 4-of-6 showing against Purdue in 2022.
“I was telling our kids he can shoot the basketball, so we have to close out to him with high hands,” Moton said. “It seemed like he had the first 14 points of the game, so he set the tone. He gave the other guys confidence.”
After the fast start, Dickinson commanded a lot of attention whenever he touched the ball. This allowed his teammates to pour it on, particularly from deep, as the Jayhawks canned 13 3-pointers after hitting a total of nine across the two exhibition games. Nicolas Timberlake, who was responsible for three triples, admitted that it was all thanks to Dickinson.
“He makes the game so much easier,” Timberlake said. “He’s getting all the attention, so it opens up the floor for everyone else. Just get the ball to him down low and he’s going to make a play — either a pass or an easy layup, dunk.”
That was certainly the idea when Kansas landed Dickinson in the transfer portal on May 4. He’s going to be a focal point of this offense, but he’s also going to make life much easier on his teammates while building a National Player of the Year campaign for the top-ranked team in the country.
“It’s amazing seeing him do what he does,” Timberlake said. “He’s living up to the hype I think for sure this year.”
Kansas center Hunter Dickinson (1) roars after hitting a three against North Carolina Central during the first half on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug
Kansas center Hunter Dickinson (1) reaches to defend against a shot from North Carolina Central forward Emmanuel Izunabor (13) during the first half on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug
Kansas guard Kevin McCullar Jr. (15) left, and Kansas center Hunter Dickinson have a laugh on the bench during the second half on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug
