The Hunter Dickinson saga ends as Kansas wins out

The Hunter Dickinson saga is officially over after he announced his commitment to Kansas over Maryland, Kentucky and Villanova.

Dickinson’s decision ends a longtime pursuit from Maryland as they worked to add the cherry on top of an already talented roster. Maryland returns Jahmir Young, Donta Scott and Julian Reese next season alongside a talented four-man freshman class anchored by Deshawn Harris-Smith and Jamie Kaiser.

Dickinson’s recruitment became a hot topic for Maryland fans over the last five years as the former five-star product famously ridiculed former head coach Mark Turgeon for not recruiting him. This time around, though, Dickinson can’t say that Maryland wasn’t aggressively recruiting him.

Fast forward to this offseason and it was Maryland who was the second school to host him for a visit. Dickinson returned home where he took unofficial visits to first Georgetown then Maryland before taking official visits to Kansas, Kentucky then Villanova. At a point in time through the Dickinson saga, each school seemingly had buzz and a level of confidence inside the program but the chase was officially closed on Thursday morning with Maryland’s roster largely set heading into next season.

With Dickinson headed to Lawrence, Maryland will likely turn back to its traditional lineup with Julian Reese at the five and Donta Scott at the four with Scott still able to line up along the wing. Maryland already has a pair of transfers set to join the program next season in LMU guard Chance Stephens and Indiana forward Jordan Geronimo, while head coach Kevin Willard is one over the scholarship limit heading into summer workouts. Geronimo gives the frontcourt an experienced piece to fill the role left void by Patrick Emilien’s graduation.

Stay tuned for analysis of how Geronimo fits in College Park.