Michigan star big man Hunter Dickinson breaks down his upcoming NBA Draft decision

ANN ARBOR, MI — Last week, the 2022-23 Michigan basketball season finally came to an end in a very fitting manner. The Wolverines, whose season was all over the place, fell just short in round two of the NIT against Vanderbilt, blowing a late-game lead and not being able to muster up  game-winning shot. For Michigan basketball, the 18-15 season was tough, yet another crucial blow could be coming as star big man Hunter Dickinson has a decision to make regarding his NBA Draft hopes.

Recently, on his very own podcast (the Roundball Podcast), Dickinson gave fans an inside look at what is running through his mind regarding his basketball future.

Michigan star big man Hunter Dickinson breaks down upcoming NBA Draft decision

Here is that star big man Hunter Dickinson had to say about his NBA Draft decision:

“Everything’s settled in,” Dickinson said on Michigan’s 2022-23 season coming to an end. “It’s great being able to take a couple days, relax. The NCAA season is a grind. Everybody’s so sore by the end of the season. Something’s hurting on your body. Being able to take a couple days and just not do anything and just sleep in until like 1 or 2 p.m. on some days is great. Just trying to enjoy the relaxation as much as I can, because in a little bit you’ve got to put your head back in the dirt and start grinding again.”

Michigan star big man Hunter Dickinson has been the top dog on the Wolverines’ roster for three years in a row now; however, throughout his time in Ann Arbor, the Michigan Wolverines have slowly gotten worse. In year one, Dickinson led Michigan basketball to a Big Ten title-winning regular season and an Elite 8 appearance — since then, Michigan clawed its way to a Sweet 16 last season before falling to NIT status in its most recent campaign.

“It’s obviously a hard decision on whether I want to stay or if I want to go to the professional ranks or something like that,” Dickinson said. “Just trying to talk it over with my family. I don’t have too many people that I go to for advice and stuff like that … It’s kinda hard, because as a basketball player, you have so many people in your ear trying to give you their input on what you should do, and everybody thinks they’ve got the best ideas for you and your career,” the 7-foot-1 center said. “It’s hard. You’re trying to manage all of that.

“Especially during the season, you’re just trying to play basketball, and you’ve got guys saying, ‘Oh, you should do this, you should do this.’ I’m like, ‘Yo, I’ve still got games left in my season.’ It’s kinda hard as a player. A lot of people don’t realize how much outside noise people have to deal with on a daily basis when they’re playing.”

If Dickinson comes back, expect Michigan’s star center to be fueled and ready knowing that next year will likely be his final season in the Maize and Blue.

“It’s kinda hard,” Dickinson said. “It’s definitely harder to watch when you lose in the tournament. When we went to the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games and then we lost, it was hard to watch the games after that. It was hard initially this year just to watch the first round and the second round. It was hard to watch those games, but after that you just got used to the fact that you didn’t make it.”

Hunter Dickinson has until April 24th to make a decision on his future with the program.

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