Hunter Dickinson likes this comparison between KU & Super Bowl-winning KC Chiefs
Kansas Jayhawks big man Hunter Dickinson believes there’s been a recent shift in mentality among members of the KU men’s basketball team.
After officially being eliminated from Big 12 regular-season title contention Saturday, the Jayhawks (21-8, 9-7 Big 12) are focused on getting ready for March Madness.
“I think the NCAA Tournament is the goal of every team in college basketball when the year starts,” Dickinson said. “You don’t need to be a 1-seed or a 2-seed to win it. I think UConn proved that last year, when they were a 4-seed and they just got hot at the right time.
“When it came time to where the games really mattered and (it’s) one loss, you go home, they were able to string out six in a row. And I think that’s something this team is very capable of doing.”
The Jayhawks have the talent and veteran leadership to make a tournament run, but KU hasn’t won three games since Big 12 play started. On Tuesday, Kansas plays host to a K-State team that’s desperate for a victory.
So why is Dickinson so optimistic? He saw a post recently on X (formerly Twitter) that compared KU’s team to the back-to-back Super Bowl-champion Kansas City Chiefs. This season’s Chiefs experienced their share of regular-season adversity before winning it all.
“I was going through the comparison,” Dickinson said. “I saw they compared (Johnny) Furphy to Rashee Rice. Luckily, they compared me to (Patrick) Mahomes, which I appreciate.
“They said how they had a rough stretch in the regular season and when it came time when it mattered the most, they were able to pull off a streak of four wins, maybe five wins? Now, nobody cares about what they did in the regular season; they are Super Bowl champs.”
KU coach Bill Self agreed with the comparison ... for the most part. Self noted that both KU and the Chiefs thought their records would be better at different points in the season — namely, the 15-game mark for the Chiefs and the 29-game mark for the Jayhawks.
“There is one difference,” Self said. “They (the Chiefs) have done it and we haven’t even gotten started yet.
“Could we make a run like that? Absolutely ... but there is a lot of work that has to go into it to put yourself in the position to actually have a chance to have success like that.”
Dickinson said this KU team is better suited for a run in March than the grit and grind of regular-season competition in the Big 12.
“I think when it comes time to March, you don’t really have to worry about resting your players, getting beat down by a hard (and) grueling Big 12 schedule,” he said. ”I think you usually play your best five to around eight (players), and you’re going to really rely on those guys to get you through games because you’ve only got to win two games and then you get a nice little break before your next game.
“I do think this team is built for it. We have the talent, we have the skill — obviously we have the coaching, and I think we have that fan base that will definitely help us wherever we land.”
