"Arkansas had 20 people calling me" - When Hunter Dickinson "couldn't wait" to end recruiting process after break up with Juwan Howard's Michigan

The Kansas Jayhawks and star center Hunter Dickinson have been underwhelming at 20-11 and unranked despite beginning the season ranked No. 1. Jayhawks coach Bill Self has been under the spotlight, with the team 6-7 in its last 13 games.

Before transferring to the Jayhawks in 2023, Dickinson played for three years under Juwan Howard for the Michigan Wolverines.

During a segment of "Rock Chalk Unplugged" from last year, Dickinson talked about how frantic his recruitment process was once he entered the portal (Timestamp: 0:46).

"My recruitment was pretty crazy," Dickinson said. "When I first entered the portal, my phone was going nuts for a couple of days. It was pretty fun, but I got over it pretty quick. It reminded me of my high school recruitment where I just couldn't wait to get it over with. 'Cause you get to think of it like every school is calling you and every school has, like, four-five coaches.

"Like, Arkansas, I had 20 people calling me from them. Think about, like, six or seven schools, four coaches. That's like 20 people trying to call you every other day. It gets a lot, but I think what sold me on Kansas was it checked all the boxes. One of the best coaches of all time, they have the history and the tradition of Kansas basketball but also him having that pedigree of him developing bigs."

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Hunter Dickinson's "selfish" move from Michigan

Hunter Dickinson said during an interview with ESPN last year that he moved from the Michigan Wolverines due to financial constraints as well detailing that he earned just $100,000 in his junior year in Ann Arbor.

"The people hating on me would leave their job right now for a $10,000 increase," Dickinson said. "I got, at Michigan, less than six figures. I really didn't want to leave, I didn't. But I just felt like, man, it was the best decision for me. It took a lot of courage. If I wanted to just go to the highest bidder, then it wouldn't be Kansas."

Since Dickinson signed withthe Jayhawks, he has garnered several NIL deals with brands like JBL, Keurig, Crush Soda, Skims, Ritz Crackers, Wendy's and Minsky's.

Hunter Dickinson has an NIL valuation of $1.3 million, which places him at No. 75 on the On3 NIL 100 list ahead of his expected departure for the NBA via the 2025 draft.