Top-ranked player in transfer portal makes decision on playing future

Dickinson averaged 18.5 points and nine rebounds per game on 56 percent shooting last season. In three years with the Wolverines, he started 89 games and averaged 30.6 minutes per game. 

The Jayhawks had an obvious need at center. Ernest Udeh, a 2022-23 freshman, was the only player listed as a center on the Jayhawks roster last season and played just 8.3 minutes per game.

Prior to landing Dickinson, the transfer portal was a mixed bag for Kansas. Per On3's rankings, it lost valuable depth with five three-star recruits leaving and ranked 64th out of 68 teams. The team also lost 2022-23 leading scorers Jalen Wilson and Gradey Dick to the NBA Draft. 

The Jayhawks gained one four-star prospect in former Texas guard Arterio Morris and made perhaps the most underrated move this offseason by adding sharpshooting guard Nicolas Timberlake.

After playing five seasons at Towson, he used the COVID-19 waiver for a sixth year of eligibility. He shot 41.2 percent from three on 6.2 attempts per game during the last two seasons.

Kansas was a one-seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament but lost in the second round to eight-seed Arkansas 72-71. Head coach Bill Self missed the team's tournament appearance after having a medical procedure that also forced him to miss the Big 12 Tournament. 

Last month, Self said, "I am 100 percent positive I will be coaching at the University of Kansas this upcoming season and hopefully many more after that." 

He has a couple of established threats joining him, as well as On3's sixth-ranked recruiting class, led by five-star guard Elmarko Jackson.

The program won its fourth title in 2022 and Dickinson's decision will ramp up the hype that No. 5 is on the horizon.