Keep an eye on Syracuse basketball for Michigan transfer big, per analysts

Hunter Dickinson, a former Syracuse basketball recruit and top-flight center in collegiate hoops, is entering the NCAA’s transfer portal following his junior season at Big Ten Conference member Michigan, according to reports.

The 7-foot-1 Dickinson, an All-American during his freshman campaign with the Wolverines who averaged 18.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game during the 2022-23 season, is likely to be courted by many suitors now that he’s in the portal.

Numerous experts, additionally, are deeming Dickinson as the No. 1 transfer across the country following his decision on Friday to hit the portal. Might Syracuse basketball coaches pursue him?

That remains to be seen. I haven’t been able to independently verify if the Orange coaching staff has reached out to Dickinson and his camp at this juncture. However, top national recruiting analysts and scouts from 247Sports say to keep an eye on the ‘Cuse as it pertains to Dickinson.

Syracuse basketball offered a scholarship to elite center Hunter Dickinson in August of 2018.

The 247Sports experts say three college squads to keep an eye on as potential landing spots for Dickinson, at least for the time being, are Kentucky, Georgetown and Syracuse basketball.

https://twitter.com/247Sports/status/1641964846756528131

Kentucky is a no-brainer, and the Wildcats are a blue-blood program led by head coach John Calipari, an ace recruiter. According to 247Sports, Dickinson took an unofficial visit to Kentucky while in high school. Plus, it’s unlikely that Wildcats senior big man Oscar Tshiebwe returns in the 2023-24 stanza.

Georgetown has not been good in recent years, however, the Big East squad is located in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region, where Dickinson grew up and played high-school ball.

He is from Alexandria, Va., and was a standout player at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md., while also playing in grassroots basketball for the Washington, D.C.-based Team Takeover in Nike’s EYBL league. In the 2020 class coming out of DeMatha Catholic, most recruiting services rated Dickinson as a top-50 national prospect and a top-10 center.

The Hoyas recently hired former Providence boss Ed Cooley as their next head coach, and perhaps the excitement building around Cooley’s hire and some recruits recently committing to Georgetown could prove enticing for Dickinson.

As far as Syracuse basketball, the 247Sports experts noted that the Orange recently brought on board Brenden Straughn as an assistant coach. Straughn has deep recruiting ties in the fertile D.C. market, and he was the associate head coach of Team Takeover when Dickinson and his colleagues won the Peach Jam crown in 2018.

What’s more, Adrian Autry was a coach for Team Takeover a while back when it was known as Triple Threat, and the new ‘Cuse head coach, too, has extensive recruiting connections in the Washington area.

The 247Sports analysts also mentioned Dickinson has spoken openly about name, image and likeness, and that Syracuse has been proactive with collective-type NIL deals.

Looking ahead to the Orange in the 2023-24 season, the team could have three to four centers on its roster, depending on whether senior Jesse Edwards elects to come back to the Hill for a fifth year granted to college basketball players by the NCAA amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Other centers for the ‘Cuse in 2023-24 are sophomore Mounir Hima, freshman Peter Carey and 2023 three-star player William Patterson, who is a senior at The Patrick School in Hillside, N.J.

In 2022-23, Dickinson averaged 18.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.8 blocks per game for Michigan, while connecting on 56.0 percent from the field, 42.1 percent from beyond the arc, and 72.7 percent from the free-throw line.

He was named to the All-Big Ten second team in 2022-23, when Michigan went 18-16 overall, and has been on the All-Big Ten first squad twice. He was a second-team All-American as a freshman for the Wolverines during the 2020-21 stanza.