Hunter Dickinson's Michigan Legacy

Submitted by UNCWolverine on July 16th, 2023 at 5:39 PM

Hunter certainly had some great moments wearing maize and blue. I can't remember a more important player leaving Ann Arbor prior to his senior season to play for another collegiate team. His long-term Michigan legacy seems to still be in question. I imagine these recent comments will not go over well with the fanbase. His comments are not egregious, but unnecessary in my opinion.

In his most recent public comments, via the ‘Rock Chalk Unplugged’ podcast, Hunter Dickinson made some interesting remarks about the state of Michigan.

“Going down Mass Street, it feels like this town has its own kind of culture and stuff like that,” Hunter Dickinson said. “I’m super excited when students come back and the towns get bustling and stuff like that. But just walking around, the people are super, super welcoming. Super nice. Definitely get those Midwest vibes. I feel like at Michigan, they weren’t as nice. They were nice people but not as nice.”

Additionally, Hunter Dickinson went on to state that Kansas is the true Midwest, unlike Michigan.

“I feel like Michigan is like a fake Midwest,” Hunter Dickinson said. “Kansas is actually like a Midwest town. I loved my time in Michigan, but the people here at Kansas are especially nice.”

This winter, the former All-American Michigan basketball star will be taking the court in a new uniform for the first time during his four-year college basketball career.

Mgopioneer

July 16th, 2023 at 8:51 PM ^

Wait till they lose a game they are suppose to win. Those people live for Kansas basketball. Very passionate but expect nothing short of a championship. 

MGoTakedown

July 16th, 2023 at 9:35 PM ^

What if, hear me out, Hunter was such a polarizing teammate that even though we lost a talented offensive player, we actually develop more cohesiveness without him and become a better team? A team that can actually defend the rim?

MGlobules

July 16th, 2023 at 10:08 PM ^

He's kind of a credulous, medium watt dude, in the end, has shown that pretty often. There's just not a whole lot there. It happens over and over in American life that we assume that people who are good at one thing are going to be good at another thing, like social analysis; very often, they're not. And although Hunter's remarks are not good PR. . . ill-advised. . . there's a grain of truth in them, too. For half a century, no one in the world would have said that Lawrence had a patch on A2. But the city where I went to high school and college (Huron and the UM), it's hard to deny these days, is pretty full of itself. 

swc_92

July 16th, 2023 at 10:10 PM ^

HD really needs to stop talking and just play ball. While I wished him well when he left, I am glad that we are not going to have to deal with another season of the childish public trash talking, it was getting really old (especially since they weren't winning). Not sure that I will ever get over the ski-mask clown show against Wisconsin. There is no need to take pot shots at your former community - said the same thing about Cade and Erick All when they left. You like Kansas, great, just say that and end of sentence, bringing the people of AA and MI into the conversation is not necessary, very immature and not professional at all

Dayday

July 16th, 2023 at 10:18 PM ^

If Howard was a better coach he'd still be here. I'm a born and raised michigander, but I've lived all over the country. From my experience (anecdotal, I know), people are less friendly in Michigan compared to other states. Still moved back here though because you love what you know.  

93Grad

July 16th, 2023 at 11:28 PM ^

Please stop.  This is like jealous ex-lover stalking the Facebook page kinda shit.  Who cares, he’s gone.  Time to move on. 

Weird Harold

July 16th, 2023 at 11:34 PM ^

Eh.  Bitchy little comments, but true.  Lived most of my life in Michigan except for a few years in Kansas City.  It is absolutely friendlier down there.  When I moved in down I had about six neighbors stop by to welcome us, and most brought cookies (or a 6 pack), it was awesome and incredibly welcoming.  When we moved back to a similar new neighborhood in Michigan, not a single person came by.  Of course, I don't bring cookies for any new neighbors here either, so I guess I'm where I belong.  

LakeWylieBlue

July 17th, 2023 at 12:08 AM ^

Good luck to the kid. His time is now. He won’t play in the NBA. If anything, update the passport. Don’t sweat the juvenile comments by HD. True colors being shown. So much more to focus on! Go Blue 

Imjesayin

July 17th, 2023 at 2:23 AM ^

I’m sure Kansas folk are all nice now, but wait until you disappear in crunch time and choke with the game on the line. #grassisgreener #dontletthedoorhityou 

uminks

July 17th, 2023 at 3:13 AM ^

He will probably help them get to the final four. Given much better guard play, his offence will improve too or beyond his first season at Michigan. Since living near Lawrence now for 20 years, I would say Kansas people are friendlier than Michigan. I grew up in southeast MI and found things more cliquish in high school and college. When I went to Michigan, usually the richer kids all hung out together. I had to work a lot, so I felt more like an outsider. I don't find as many cliques in KS than I did in MI. But this may be due to the fact that I was much younger in MI? I still think Hunter would like Michigan better, if Michigan NIL would have matched or exceeded KU's NIL. LOL 

Sam1863

July 17th, 2023 at 6:09 AM ^

"Unnecessary" is what I thought when I read his comments. I was also reminded of the scene in "Saving Private Ryan" when Tom Sizemore's Sgt. Horvath levels his .45 at Edward Burns' Pvt. Reiben and accurately describes him up in one sentence:

"You don't know when to shut up! You don't know HOW to shut up!"

LDNfan

July 17th, 2023 at 6:33 AM ^

Weird having UM suddenly so linked to Kansas in both football (KSU) and basketball (UK)....and come out on the short end in both instances. 

jimmyjoeharbaugh

July 17th, 2023 at 6:59 AM ^

I think hunter is a clown but I agree that Michigan doesn't have the friendly vibe of other parts of the Midwest. I call it a great lakes state. In my mind, the great lakes region is sort of a cultural blend of the Midwest and NY/nj/pa

outsidethebox

July 17th, 2023 at 7:51 AM ^

I have never minced words with regards to my opinion about Hunter. I do not like him as a player and like him even less as a teammate/person. That Michigan basketball got worse the longer he was here is not an accident. Here, correlation and causation were in bed together. 

outsidethebox

July 17th, 2023 at 7:51 AM ^

I have never minced words with regards to my opinion about Hunter. I do not like him as a player and like him even less as a teammate/person. That Michigan basketball got worse the longer he was here is not an accident. Here, correlation and causation were in bed together. 

LSAClassOf2000

July 17th, 2023 at 7:51 AM ^

I don't understand the "fake Midwest" comment at all, and really, Kansas is in the Great Plains. That said, I've always thought of the Great Lake Regions, of which Michigan is not only part but the centerpiece, as a slightly more worldly part of the Midwestern US, but does that make it "fake"? I wouldn't think so. Admittedly, that's an unofficial spin with which many books would undoubtedly disagree. 

shoes

July 17th, 2023 at 8:20 AM ^

It's not that complicated: Hunter is and always was a douche, but he used to be our douche, (much like with those of us Piston fans who loved Bill Laimbeer, while opponents fans hated him), but he isn't ours anymore. Laimbeer did hustle on defense though.

BursleysFinest

July 17th, 2023 at 10:18 AM ^

It just seems unnecessary, like he's going out of his way to lower Michigan. This isn't even that bad, but it just serves no purpose except to piss off UM fans.  If you want to say you love Kansas, then say you love Kansas.  

I guess this is what it feels like to be on the other side of the lovable goofball troublemaker.

TruBluMich

July 17th, 2023 at 10:19 AM ^

He's a 7-footer who just transferred to a school where basketball is a religion.  He's a walking god in their eyes.  However, is he really lying?  People, for the most part, are nice, but South East Michigan is nothing like the rest of the state and definitely not like the plains.

This isn't the 1800s anymore, and Michigan is much closer to the east coast than the west coast.  Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio are part of the Great Lake region or the old Northwest Territory. Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota (could add Oklahoma in region expansion) are the mid-west.

MaizeGVBlue

July 17th, 2023 at 10:34 AM ^

Who cares what he says.  The reality is he's no closer to being a draftable prospect now than he was 12 months from now.  The NBA, and even the high level Euro teams, do not want stiff 7ft'ers who cannot play beyond the paint.