Michigan Wolverines basketball freshman center Hunter Dickinson's career has gotten off to an outstanding start, with the 7-1 big man averaging 22.4 minutes, 14.8 points and 7.4 rebounds through the team's first five games.
Dickinson was rated as the No. 40 overall player in the country out of high school and was expected to be very good in time at Michigan, but success wasn't necessarily expected to come this fast.
The Alexandria, Va., native has not only become the best center on U-M's roster, but is already one of the best overall players on the team. He received the Big Ten's Freshman of the Week Award Monday after compiling 12 points and 11 boards Dec. 2 against Ball State and 14 points and seven rebounds Dec. 6 versus Central Florida.
That got us thinking … is Dickinson the best freshman in the Big Ten? We can only base our answer on what we've seen throughout the league in the short sample size so far (most conference members have only played four or five games), but the short answer is yes.
Dickinson has the best statistics of any freshman in the conference, and no other rookie can even make a case for having been better so far in that regard. He leads all league freshmen in points (14.7) and rebounds (7.4), and is second in minutes played per game (22.4).
Additionally, Dickinson's 70.7 field goal percentage is the second best mark in the entire Big Ten. It's important to once again stress how early we are in the 2020-21 campaign, but even with that in mind, we likely already know who Dickinson's top competitors will be for the Freshman of the Year Award.
Sure, teams' rotations and lineups will change slightly as the year goes on, but a freshman who hasn't at least established himself as a rotational player already is highly unlikely to eventually emerge and challenge for the award.
A nice combination of centers and guards make up the list of the league's top freshmen, with the former position claiming the top two spots below.
We made a note of it below the chart above, but it's worth reiterating Purdue guard Jaden Ivey has only played in one game this year due to injury, but poured in 12 points in a Nov. 25 win over Liberty.
Very few of the entrants on the list above come as a surprise, and that's a credit to Rivals.com's recruiting rankings. Seven of the nine players were listed as four-star prospects, with Purdue center Zach Edey and Iowa forward Keegan Murray being the lone two exceptions (they were both three-stars).
Additionally, four of the top seven players included were ranked as top-45 recruits nationally, in Dickinson (No. 40), Illinois guard Adam Miller (No. 34), Illinois guard Andre Curbelo (No. 38) and Rutgers center Clifford Omoruyi (No. 42).
Ivey is a bit of a wild card on the list since he has only played in one game and remains sidelined with injury, but it's safe to assume the players currently near the top of the chart — Edey, Miller, Berry and Curbelo — will serve as Dickinson's biggest challengers for the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year Award.
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