Hunter Dickinson has a pretty full schedule, but if suiting up as a 7'1" tight end is what gets him to Michigan's Orange Bowl game versus Georgia, then so be it. The sophomore center spoke about that yesterday, as well as a number of issues relating to his current team, including how they are finding chemistry, what some of the younger players have to do to get on the floor more, and how things have changed in practice over the course of the season. For everything Hunter Dickinson said in yesterday's media availability, read on.

On what he has seen in practice that makes him think they have more potential and his confidence in the team reaching that potential

I think even before the season started when we were doing open gyms and stuff, I could see the kind of talent that we had throughout the roster and the depth that we had and so I think the talent's always been there but I think recently with these last couple practices we've really started to compete and play together. I think those are the two things that we've been lacking in our losses, and I think that's something that we're trying to keep getting better on is just competing, especially on the defensive end, and then on the offensive end playing together and sharing the ball, sharing the wealth.

On an NIL agreement with Mr. Spots

I don't have anything official with them but I know the owner, Keith, pretty well, so me and him are cool.

His favorite Mr. Spots order?

The Philly cheesesteak. I love their waffle fries and then I also like the garlic parm wings.

On COVID cancellations and whether it has weighed on him or his teammates

Yeah, it's definitely something that's been brought up in practices. Chris Williams, our trainer, has brought it up every day talking about making sure we're staying smart with our decisions out there, not trying to--trying to be as safe as possible. Obviously you see the cancellations and the programs shutting down. I feel like every day I see a couple on Twitter, somebody's posting about a new school shutting down. You also see the NBA and NFL, NHL, all the professional teams, they're having trouble with it as well so it's obviously something that we're seeing and we're being mindful of but I think it's something that me personally, I try not to worry too much about. I just try to hopefully just stay as safe as I can and as healthy as I can. You know, I got my Vitamin C pills that I'm taking, my Vitamin D pills, so hopefully those work for me.

On the evolution of the offense and his chemistry with the perimeter players

I think it's a mixture of we have three starters who are new to the Michigan program and two of them are freshmen that don't know anything about Division I basketball and coming in just trying to learn the speed and the pace and everything that goes into playing Division I, and then also DeVante' going from Coastal Carolina to Michigan, playing in a new system, new players and new habits. It's definitely a transition for those guys and it's something that isn't an overnight thing. It's something that we knew was going to take a while to get used to and so I think that's just a part of it, them just growing as players, getting more used to playing in the Big Ten and high Division I basketball and playing with other guys.

And also just the coaching staff doing a good job of just continuing to develop players and develop their own schemes and stuff like that. I think we've done a good job of making an effort to throw it in and work on throwing passes into the post that some players might not learn in high school and stuff like that, so I think it's been a conscious effort of coaches and players of everybody just developing as a whole and getting better at that kind of stuff because that's what teams are trying to take away and I think that's something that we as a team got better with.

On his takeaways from film sessions with DeVante' Jones

I mean, obviously as a big man you need to be on the same page with the point guard because that's usually the guy who's going to get you the ball, especially in our offense because of the way our offense is set with so many ball screens and a lot of them are between the 1 and the 5. You've got to have great chemistry with your point guard so that's something that I always try to develop whenever I can. I feel like last year with Mike (Smith) him and I had a good relationship off and on the court. We were such great friends off the court that that really helped on the court. Me and DeVante' spending time with one another off the court is something that is important to me and to him as well.

On NIL opportunities and how he balances that during the season

Yeah, I have somebody helping me out. I think it's been better than in the fall because I feel like in the fall there was so much stuff. I think now that I'm getting more used to it, as the days go by I feel like I'm getting a better handle on things and stuff like that. Just picking and choosing what I want to do. Doing stuff that doesn't really require too much of my time, I guess, off the court is something that I would prefer. Doing that kind of stuff, it's definitely been better for me as of late and I'm really happy with what I've been able to do. I've got a couple other things coming up that I'm happy that will come into fruition later.

Was it a distraction early?

Yeah, because I think it takes up--it has the possibility to take up so much time in your life if you let it. Especially in the fall, when it was kind of still new to everybody, I think it took up a good amount of my time because I just didn't know--I just wasn't used to it, I didn't know how to handle it and so I think now that I have a better handle it takes up less time and I'm able to not spend so much energy on that kind of stuff.

On saying part of the reason he came back was to be a regular student and go to football games and how the football season met his expectations

I mean, I don't think you could have asked for a better football season for Michigan. The fact that we still aren't done with the season is a great thing to say and that's just a testament to the work the football team's put in. We're really big fans of them, everybody on the basketball team including myself. We're their biggest supporters and we love going to their games and supporting them as much as we can. Hopefully we're able to go down to Miami since we're going to be in Orlando playing UCF. Hopefully Coach sets that up and we can maybe have an appearance down there. If Harbaugh needs another guy to suit up and dress for the game I might have to hop in there. It's been great to support them. They've had a great season and hopefully they can take care of business against Georgia and play for the national championship.

What position?

Oh, tight end, for sure.

On the last time he played a sport other than basketball competitively

Baseball in eight grade, and that was the last time I played another sport. I played football earlier.

Did you pitch?

Yeah, pitcher and first base.

On Zeb Wells and Kobe Bufkin and what they bring to the team

I think just athleticism is the biggest thing, being able to--I think they're pretty much one of the most athletic people on the team. Those two, Frankie (Collins), are some of the most athletic guys I've seen, and so for us using that athleticism offensively and defensively is something that we would definitely like to happen.

I think Coach is trying to do--him and the rest of the coaching staff are trying to get them to buy-in to guarding. That's the biggest thing that I think will get them on the floor more is guarding their man and really taking that one-on-one challenge. I think if they continue to show that they'll be able to get more and more minutes as the year goes on.

Offensively Kobe's really offensively gifted, being able to create his own shot. Zeb is another guy who's just able to create shots for himself and then for others as well. He's so quick, he's got a great jab step. And so I think just continuing to have them buy in on the defensive end is where I think they'll gain the most minutes.

On the process of building chemistry and finding the right lineups

You know, I think it's still something that we're getting a feel for. I don't think we have it 100% right just yet, but I think it's still coming with time. The season is still young and we're still trying to figure things out but I think the starting five has a good feel for each other right now. I think we got a good chemistry coming off that win versus Southern Utah. People are clicking and playing to their strengths and that's good. I think we're getting good production off the bench with the guys who are coming in. Frankie's giving us great minutes, Brandon's giving us great minutes, Terrance is giving us great minutes and so for us I think it's just a matter of continuing to play with each other, getting more comfortable with each other. As the season wears on I think you'll just see even more growth from the start of the season.

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