Michigan rising sophomore center Hunter Dickinson has until July 19 to withdraw from the NBA Draft, but he has a plan. He hasn’t done much other than work out while spending time with family in the offseason — three times a day, sometimes — to hone his body for his next step.
Whether that’s the NBA or a second year at Michigan remains to be seen and will be largely determined by what he hears this summer. He’ll go through the NBA Combine and get his feedback before deciding what’s next, he told U-M Basketball play-by-play man Brian Boesch on the Defend the Block Podcast.
“With the season I had, I felt I earned the right to kind of see what NBA teams were saying. That’s why I was very big on trying to get an NCAA certified agent, because I want some guidance in the process, but I also wanted to make sure able to retain my eligibility,” Dickinson said. “That was something that was very important to me just to be able to keep all my options open.
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“I felt like this was a win-win situation for me to gather information about what NBA teams were saying, but also leave the door open to come back, not force myself to leave college.”
He flip flopped a few times before even deciding to test the waters, one of the reasons he waited until four days before the deadline to declare.
“It was a really hard decision for me because college was something that was hard to end the season how we did, losing that game,” Dickinson continued. “I probably thought aobut it multiple times a day every day since the UCLA game. But it’s something I really wanted to do. Playing in the NBA is obviously a lifetime goal of mine, so for me to be able to be this close to achieving it … obviously I’ll try to take the chance to see if NBA teams are saying I’m ready, but also the biggest reason was because it was my lifetime goal.
“To be able to essentially kind of do both, have both doors open for me, it felt like testing was something I felt made sense.”
It’s been a sacrifice this summer, he admitted, getting his body in elite shape and acting like a professional while wanting to do college student things. At the same time, he understands what’s at stake. If he’s good enough to move into the first round, he’ll make millions of dollars. If not, he’ll be better prepared to hone his skills at U-M, have a dominant season and then move on.
There are three things scouts and coaches have told him to work on, he said.
“The biggest thing for me was my body. That’s something I’m hearing … a lot of NBA teams wonder what does body composition look like,” he said. “That’s something I’ve taken really head on this offseason. I’m on a strict diet over here. It’s pretty hard but really changing my body, slimming down, getting pretty toned, getting a lot better in that area.
“Also, my movements and stuff like that in the weight room … the strength coaches have focused a lot on lateral movement, being able to guard the ball screens on either the collegiate or the NBA level. That’s another big thing people are trying to say I can’t do. That’s a big area for me.
“Then, just continue to expand my game … my shot, making it more consistent. Those are probably the big main three things I worked on this offseason. I’ve done a lot of work outside practice.”
But Juwan Howard and his staff made sure they got plenty of shots up in practice, as well, and he worked with the managers and others after hours. If he displays a better outside game at the Combine, it could open doors. If not, he has goals at Michigan, too.
“Winning a National Championship … being a competitor, that’s what you want to do, win every game you play,” he said. “For me it’s kind of hard. I really thought we were going to win it this year.
“That’s something that, if I come back, I definitely know it’s a main goal for me, and I know it’s a main goal for Coach Howard and the staff, all the players coming back to win a National Championship for the University of Michigan, because that’s where we are as a program. We’re a national contender every year with Coach Howard, and I think we’re right on the doorstep of one.”