It would have been a big deal for Maryland men’s basketball to have landed Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson. I understand that.
Landing the highest-profile transfer in the country, a former All-American, would have been a significant statement for second-year head coach Kevin Willard’s program. Beating out blue-blood programs like Kansas (which landed Dickinson), Kentucky and Villanova for any prospect at all would have had a seismic impact for Maryland basketball. The Terrapins would have probably found themselves ranked in the preseason top 10 and there would have been an electric energy ahead of the season.
And damn if it didn’t feel like, given all of the unique circumstances, it could have happened. With his former DeMatha coach Mike Jones on staff and former DeMatha teammate Jahmir Young on the roster and his endlessly weird obsession with wanting to have been loved by Maryland in recent years, it genuinely felt like it could have happened.
Still, I don’t think I’m nearly as devastated as some of you.
During the NCAA Tournament, I found myself asking a few of my regular analyst guests the same question. “Given the Big Ten’s continued failures in the NCAA Tournament, is it better for Maryland to build a team that’s best suited to compete in the Big Ten or build a team that’s better suited for the NCAA Tournament that will likely take its lumps in conference play?”
The answer, of course, is that you don’t have to pick one or the other. Ideally, Maryland can find a hybrid of the two. But the teams that are best suited to win national titles have decidedly not been the ones whose offenses go through traditional 7-foot centers like Dickinson. In fact, of the last five national champions, UConn’s Adama Sanogo (6-foot-9) is the tallest player to even finish as a top-THREE scorer on the team.
Meanwhile, 7-footers who led their team in scoring in the Big Ten this year — Dickinson and Purdue’s Zach Edey — combined to win a total of zero NCAA Tournament games. Edey joined 6-foot-10 former Iowa superstar Luka Garza as recent Big Ten Wooden Award winners who failed to make it past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Now allow me to be transparent and fair. Dickinson’s Michigan teams made it to the second weekend of the tournament in each of the previous two years before missing the Big Dance altogether this season. Drew Timme was the leading scorer for the Gonzaga team that reached the 2021 NCAA championship game. I would have said “competed in” the 2021 NCAA championship game but I said I needed to be transparent.
The point is that I realize this isn’t biblical. There is no guarantee that a prototypical college “center” can’t win a national title. Dickinson will have a more complete supporting cast to work with at Kansas next season. Perhaps as part of his decision to transfer there he recognized that his best path to a title isn’t to be the singular focal point of an offense. It’s also a bit ridiculous to measure whether Dickinson would have been a good fit for Maryland based on its likelihood to win a national championship since the Terrapins weren’t likely to make that massive of a jump with or without Dickinson.
Still, the past few years have presented significant evidence that the best way to win in March is with athleticism. The teams loaded with guards, wings and even stretch fours who can get up and down the floor, defend and shoot are the teams that are best suited to win titles. Dickinson can shoot, of course, but he’s just not that guy. But perhaps incoming freshman guard DeShawn Harris-Smith (who recently rose into the top 25 of national recruiting rankings) could prove to be that difference-maker. I’m far more interested in watching a team built around that type of player than a team build around a true five.
(There is probably a weird Kansas fan who has wandered over to this column and is prepared to type “COPE” in all caps because that’s who we are as a society these days. I have a rather lengthy digital audio footprint that proves this isn’t the case. Also, I think Dickinson is a great addition for Kansas and as I previously stated, I think Kansas could win a title with Dickinson. It’s a nuanced conversation.)
The point is that while I recognize what the benefits would have been, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. And given what Willard has already done in a short time as coach, I’m inclined to believe even brighter days are still ahead with or without Mark Turgeon’s least passionate fan.
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