"I can't tell if this is serious": Fans left baffled as NCAA insider pokes fun at Kansas legend, says Hunter Dickinson will return for another year

Former Kansas star Hunter Dickinson exhausted his eligibility when the Jayhawks were eliminated from the 2025 NCAA Tournament by coach John Calipari's Arkansas Razorbacks. Dickinson had played five seasons in college basketball after opting to return last year instead of declaring for the NBA Draft.

On Tuesday, college basketball insider and "Field of 68" analyst Jeff Goodman joked on X about Hunter's future in college basketball.

"Been told that @H_Dickinson24 applied for a waiver for another year to try and break record for games played by a men’s college basketball player. Will turn 30 in November," Goodman tweeted.

The comment by Goodman stemmed from Hunter Dickinson joking on an episode of "The Field of 68" podcast about wanting to stay in college basketball due to the money being paid to mid-major centers via NIL.

“I promise you I didn’t make seven figures,” Hunter Dickinson said, “I need a lawyer to give me another year. “I’m looking at these big men now who are not even averaging double digits and they’re making more than double what I made this year.

"They are making $2 million … I mean I gave up money. I gave up six figures to come back to help our team get better, because I had a talk with my agent. I was like, ‘Would I rather get the most money out of the portal, or would I rather have a good team?’ And I was like, ‘This my final year, I’d rather have a good team.’"

College basketball fans on X had mixed reactions to Goodman's comments about Dickinson's future.

"I can’t tell if this is serious," one fan said.

Some fans found out that Goodman was just jesting.

"Sure he’s only 30? He’s played 3 years longer than Jess Settles it seems!" one fan said.

"wow, that was really funny!" another fan said.

"Very funny Jeff," one fan said.

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Hunter Dickinson addresses NBA future

Hunter Dickinson fell out of ESPN's latest two-round mock draft despite averaging 17.4 points on 52.6% shooting from the floor and 27.6% shooting from beyond the arc, 10.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists for the Kansas Jayhawks in the 2024 season.

During the Final Four's CBS broadcast, the divisive Hunter revealed how he was approaching his basketball future.

“Starting next weekend, I’ll do my pre-(NBA) Draft stuff in L.A. and get ready for the draft, see where that goes,” Hunter Dickinson said. “I feel like I’m pretty confident in where I’m at. Obviously, this summer I’m going to put the pedal to the metal, try to grind and really get developed and try to put my best foot forward for the NBA and see what happens. Obviously there are a lot of different career paths I can go to."

Hunter Dickinson has been one of the most dominant centers in college basketball for both the Michigan Wolverines and the Kansas Jayhawks and fans will wait with bated breath to see how his future pans out.