Hunter Dickinson is a star. There is absolutely no denying that the DeMatha product and former consensus All-American is the best player in the transfer portal. He is the most decorated player to ever hit the portal and has shown an ability to almost single handedly carry a team to the NCAA Tournament bubble. So when the big man’s name hit the transfer portal, naturally Georgetown was close to the top of everyone’s list of possible suitors. How does that make sense?
Well, it’s honestly pretty simple. Even after the dumpster fire that was the last few seasons on the Hilltop, Georgetown checks almost every box for what Dickinson might look for in a new school. So let’s look at why.
Before we really start, let’s just get one thing out of the way: Georgetown is pretty much Dickinson’s hometown school. He grew up right across the Potomac in Alexandria, Virginia and played for Team Takeover and DeMatha Catholic High School. He is as DMV as DMV gets.
We also know he would have flirted with the idea of playing collegiate basketball close to home if the opportunity arose. After his freshman season at Michigan, he went on the Field of 68 and briefly spoke about how he thought Maryland should have made him more of a priority coming out of high school. We don’t know how this affects his current relationship with the Terrapins, but before we get ahead of ourselves here, let’s just call a spade a spade and say there is some part of Hunter Dickinson that values being close to home.
It is also worth noting that he would be an immediate culture fit. Looking back at the glory days of the program, the Hoyas were the bad boys of college basketball. They played hard, sometimes dirty, and if you were a basketball fan at that time you either loved everything about them or you hated their guts. Hunter Dickinson fits that to a tee. He plays with an edge that is seemingly dying in college basketball and becoming a Hoya could bring the “junkyard dog” persona back to the Hilltop.
It is also important to touch on Dickinson’s relationship with Georgetown’s new head coach, Ed Cooley. In today’s college basketball landscape, players are recruited to coaches as much as, or even more than, they are to a school. So when Hunter Dickinson listed Cooley as his favorite coach outside of Juwan Howard in late January, it would seem as though this relationship could play a significant role in deciding where he might end up. This is also something that has dated back to his high school recruitment where he named Providence College to his final list and repeatedly raved about his relationship with the then-Friar Cooley. Especially in the transfer portal era, relationships are worth their weight in gold and there is no denying that Cooley already has that aspect locked in place.
On a more serious note, in today’s college basketball landscape we know players of Dickinson’s name, image and likeness require serious compensation. But when we look at the schools pursuing the southpaw, it is pretty clear that navigating this won’t be a walk in the park. Between Kentucky and Kansas, the two blue bloods have shown that they are willing to dish out serious sums of money for their players with some players on their rosters reportedly making in the millions this past season. As of now, there are no concrete reports on Dickinson’s asking price, but there are speculations circulating around the million dollar mark.
If Georgetown hopes to even be in the conversation, they have to be willing to match that number and, as far as we understand, so far they have been willing to open the checkbook. But this is still the biggest question mark for Georgetown’s candidacy. Prior to hiring Cooley, their NIL collective was nearly nonexistent and was one of many things holding the program back. While donor involvement has seemingly spiked since the hire and there were rumors of significant contributions to NIL efforts as part of negotiations with Cooley, we don’t know how strong Georgetown’s revamped NIL opportunities are and most likely won’t until the roster is finalized and we get closer to next season.
Finally, Dickinson simply fits into Georgetown’s current roster makeup. Of course a lot can, and will, change over the coming weeks as Ed Cooley attempts to fill out his roster, but Dickinson would slide into the roster as the cornerstone that will propel this team (and himself) to the next level. At the time I’m writing this, Georgetown has five open scholarships and only one center, Ryan Mutombo, on the roster. While we love Ryan dearly, we all agree he is not ready to be this team’s starting center if they hope to contend. At 7’2, Dickinson would immediately inject size into this relatively small roster and alleviate the stress on the frontcourt with his ability to play more than 30 minutes per game from day one.
Ed Cooley is also notorious for maximizing his center’s potential. His flex-style offense often features physical bigs with a strong post up game and good court vision — all of the above being attributes Dickinson is known for. As Rob Dauster said on the Field of 68 after he entered the transfer portal in early April, “If he could get Nate Watson to 16 and 6, he can get Hunter Dickinson to 22 and 12.”
Now with all that being said, what are the chances? Let’s just preface this discussion by saying I have just as much information as you. But even with that I can tell you there are (as you read above) very good reasons to be confident. At the same time, this specific recruitment is acting more like free agency negotiations. There is absolutely no way of saying where he will end up and one team could easily swoop in at the 11th hour and change everything, but Georgetown remains a favorite next to Maryland and Kansas. With the rumors of Dickinson visiting campus this weekend, we will have much more to talk about in the coming days, but until then, all we can say is rest easy and have faith.
