Hunter Dickinson hypes up high school prospects Qayden Samuels, Jordan Smith as Team Takeover continues historic run

Former Kansas and Michigan standout Hunter Dickinson may have already finished his collegiate career, but he has an eye on the next generation of talent. Dickinson praised Team Takeover's undefeated run in the Nike EYBL Circuit as it defeated AZ Unity on Sunday.

Dickinson, who played his final year of eligibility with the Jayhawks last season after transferring from Michigan in 2023, has closely followed Team Takeover, an AAU program based in Washington, D.C.

He reshared by Slam HS's post highlighting Team Takeover's win over AZ Unity on his Instagram story. It featured two of Takeover's top players, Jordan Smith Jr and Qayden Samuels, along with two players from AZ, Cameron Holmes and Paul Osaruyi.

"@_purposeislife new year same results," Dickinson wrote.

Screenchot via Instagram (@hunter.dickinson1/IG)

The Instagram account he tagged was Purpose is Life, an NGO that offers resources and support to the youth in underserved communities within the DMV region.

Dickinson was the No. 2 prospect in the Washington metropolitan area in 2020. He averaged 17.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per game last season.

What's next for Hunter Dickinson?

Hunter Dickinson has aspirations to play professionally, but he was not one of the players invited to the NBA draft combine in Chicago last week. However, he can still impress NBA teams during individual workouts to raise his stock before the draft in June.

When he appeared on the "Field of 68" podcast in April, Dickinson talked about how he plans to prepare for the draft.

"I’ll do my pre-draft stuff in L.A. and get ready for the draft, see where that goes," 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."

While Dickinson hopes to play in the NBA, ESPN's Jonathan Givony did not include him in his latest two-round mock draft released on May 12.