Syracuse Basketball: Analyst prediction on No. 1 transfer, Hunter Dickinson

A national recruiting analyst has logged a prediction for Michigan transfer center Hunter Dickinson, who conducted a Zoom meeting with Syracuse basketball coaches last week.

In an article on Tuesday, Rivals.com basketball recruiting director Rob Cassidy logged a prediction in the direction of 2022 national champion Kansas for the 7-foot-1 junior.

Cassidy assigned a “medium” confidence level to his projection for Hunter Dickinson, who is from the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and does have some ties to the Orange coaching staff through his former AAU program.

On Tuesday, 247Sports reaffirmed Dickinson as the No. 1 transfer across the country when the recruiting service updated and expanded its national rankings for college basketball players who are in the NCAA’s transfer portal.

Multiple other recruiting services also rate Hunter Dickinson as the top-rated transfer nationwide. In the 2022-23 season for the Wolverines, he averaged 18.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.8 blocks per game.

Syracuse basketball appears to be a long shot to prevail for Hunter Dickinson.

While a Zoom meeting was encouraging, I and others have said in recent days that the ‘Cuse coaching staff needs to get Dickinson on campus for a visit to have a shot in his recruitment.

Per media reports, last weekend, he took unofficial visits to both Maryland and Georgetown. Reports have also said that Hunter Dickinson is eyeing an official visit to Kansas sometime this week.

An All-American as a freshman, Dickinson has also landed All-Big Ten honors several times while playing for Michigan. While recruiting processes can change rather quickly, on Tuesday, On3’s recruiting prediction machine had the Jayhawks in the lead for Dickinson, with Maryland at No. 2.

As a four-star, top-50 national prospect in the 2020 class, Hunter Dickinson was a standout for DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md. His high-school coach, Mike Jones, was recently hired by the Terrapins as an assistant coach.

While at DeMatha Catholic, Dickinson did hold a scholarship offer from the Orange. Syracuse basketball head coach Adrian Autry and assistant coach Brenden Straughn have deep recruiting connections in the fertile D.C. market, and they both previously were coaches of the Washington-based Team Takeover in Nike’s EYBL league, where Dickinson played.

It’s no secret that Autry and his assistants are hoping to land an experienced center out of the transfer portal. A few days ago, senior center Jesse Edwards committed to West Virginia, and the other centers on the ‘Cuse roster ahead of 2023-24 are either young or inexperienced – or both.

"Cassidy, the Rivals.com national analyst, wrote: “The most buzzed-about player to enter the portal this cycle, Dickinson’s second recruitment involves a wide range of programs. Early on, some assumed that he would undoubtedly join his former high school coach Mike Jones, who was recently hired as an assistant at Maryland. That line of thinking seems to have faded a bit, however, as Kansas piqued the former Wolverine’s interest. Dickinson is scheduled to visit Lawrence this week and could continue trending toward Bill Self’s program following that trip. Kentucky was seen as a player early on, but things on that front cooled quickly. These days, Dickinson’s recruitment feels like a Terps-vs-Jayhawks battle. Georgetown is also worth monitoring given the touted big’s long-standing relationship with Ed Cooley, whom he got to know well during his high school recruitment, but the Hoyas should be seen as a dark horse at best.”"

If it does end up being the case that Syracuse basketball won’t come out on top for Hunter Dickinson, the Orange does have other options available. Reports have said that the ‘Cuse coaching staff may be showing interest in North Texas transfer Abou Ousmane, a 6-foot-10 junior big man. Quick update: On Tuesday afternoon, multiple reports said that he would commit to Xavier.

And not too long ago, CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein said via Twitter that Oklahoma State transfer Moussa Cisse is receiving interest from various squads, including the ‘Cuse.

The 7-foot-1 Cisse, a junior, was the Big 12 Conference’s defensive player of the year in 2021-22. He was also a former five-star center and a top-10 national prospect in the 2020 recruiting class.