Jayhawks big man transfer Hunter Dickinson describes meeting Patrick Mahomes at Derby

New Kansas center Hunter Dickinson had an unexpected brush with greatness with one of the most accomplished athletes in Kansas City sports history Saturday — two days after announcing his commitment to play basketball at KU during the 2023-24 season.

“I walked by Mahomes,” Dickinson said, entering storyteller mode Tuesday on Marty Mush’s Barstool Roundball Podcast.

Dickinson, a 7-footer from Alexandria, Virginia, and formerly of the University of Michigan, was referring to a pleasant encounter with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes at Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.

“He (Mahomes) was looking at me and talking. My guys were like, ‘Hey, he might know you.’ I walked back around. He dapped me up. He said he knew me. He said he comes to Kansas games,” Dickinson revealed on the podcast.

The two-time first-team all-Big Ten selection — he chose KU over Kentucky, Maryland and Villanova — said Mahomes was so approachable and accommodating that a brief chat with the QB actually turned him from a Mahomes-hater to a supporter.

Dickinson, a huge Buffalo Bills fan, was devastated watching the Mahomes-led Chiefs rally past the Bills 42-36 in overtime in the famed 13 seconds playoff game in January of 2022.

“I hated how much I liked him,” Dickinson, who has been called the most accomplished member of the NCAA transfer portal in history, said reflecting on the Mahomes meeting. “I hated how cool he is. He honestly is one of the coolest people from a famous-person perspective that I’ve ever met and I was like, ‘(Darn) it, now I have to like you now.’ I told him I was a Bills fan. I was like, ‘You broke my heart.’

“He said, ‘I’ll take it easy on the Bills next year.’ I’m like, ‘No, no it’s OK. You already broke my heart in 13 seconds. You already did what you did.’ He was so cool. I’m like ‘(darn) it.’’’

Mahomes, of course, marched the Chiefs into field goal range to set up a game-tying kick in a drive that took a mere 13 seconds to force overtime in the playoff thriller.

KC went on to grab the win on a walk-off TD pass from Mahomes to Travis Kelce. KC fell in the playoffs that season but won the Super Bowl the following year.

He met another star QB at horse track

In a wild development, Dickinson, who Saturday was attending the Derby for the second straight year, also introduced himself to Bills QB Josh Allen at Churchill Downs.

“When I saw Josh Allen there,” Dickinson said of the Derby, “I said, ‘I need a picture.’

“That’s my hero, Josh Allen. He decides how my week will go, September, October, November, December. I walked by him twice (at the Derby). I was too nervous to ask for a picture. The third time I said, ‘Can I get a picture?’ He was so cool. He followed me after (on Twitter).”

Dickinson said he was blessed with good “karma” at the Derby in getting to pose for pictures with Mahomes and Allen.

He said he actually has his own policy of always fulfilling requests from fans who ask for pictures ... except when they ask during actual games.

“I am so used to getting asked for pictures. When the role is reversed (it’s different),” Dickinson said on the podcast. “If I’m in public and somebody asks me for a picture I will always say, ‘Yes,’ because for the one or two instances I want a picture with somebody I pray they say yes.

“This is another time all the good karma I’ve gotten for saying yes to taking pictures paid off. I got a picture. Josh Allen was super cool. I told him, ‘The Bills need to get you some (darn) help,’’’ Dickinson added laughing.

Picking transfer destination was a tough call for Dickinson

Dickinson on his podcast reiterated it was a tough decision choosing KU as his transfer destination over his three finalists. He also considered Georgetown for a time.

“I was close to literally going to every one of the four schools. After every visit I was like, ‘OK, yeah, this is where I want to go,’’’ said Dickinson, who entered the transfer portal on March 31 after three seasons at Michigan.

“That is why I said I need to wait to take every visit. I was like, ‘(Darn) I really could go to Kentucky.’ I was from the standpoint it could be a big risk but also Cal’s (John Calipari) got a really good record of getting guys to the NBA. I was like, ‘This might be the spot for me.’

“I was thinking on the other hand, Maryland, it’s home. I could have a hometown legacy. My head coach (Mike Jones of Dickinson’s alma mater, DeMatha High) is there. I really like Willard (Kevin, Maryland head coach). Jahmir (Young, senior guard) is there. I always wanted to go to Maryland, to come home.

“Villanova had everything I wanted to do from a playing perspective and Justin (Moore, senior guard from his high school) being there. I like the coaching staff. It felt like a real family. Everybody from there was hitting me up (with texts). That’s why it took so long. It was so hard a decision. I really thought I could have gone anywhere.”

Dickinson said, “I’m not going to rank who was second. Honestly there was no second. Maryland had a very real chance. I just didn’t feel like it was the right time to come back.”

Picking KU a weight off his shoulders

Dickinson began Tuesday’s podcast indicating he is “so relieved” to have made the decision to continue his college career at KU.

“When I made the decision I wasn’t even happy I made the decision. I was just relieved that it was all over. I am very happy now with the decision. I’m just excited to get down there to Lawrence, Kansas,” Dickinson said.

Dickinson is planning on arriving in Lawrence in June for the summer classes and workouts on campus.

“I’m not going to lie. Last night I looked up where Lawrence was in retrospect to the country,” Dickinson said to his two podcast partners, Mush and Jordan Bohannon. “It’s kind of near Iowa. It’s below Nebraska, to the left of Missouri and then to the right (of) Colorado. I was like, ‘What kind of major cities am I near? What cities are close?’ Obviously Kansas City but that’s pretty much it.”

Dickinson said he “doesn’t understand the narrative of me dragging this (decision) out.”

“I got in the portal March 31. I committed on May 4. That’s a month and three days. A month and three days is dragging it out? Everybody was mad at me. Everybody was like, ‘Oh Hunter is trying to make it like a game. He’s all about himself. He’s being so selfish.’ I’m like, ‘You are mad at me for your inside sources being wrong about when I’m committing. Don’t be mad at me because the people you listen to have no idea what is going on in this recruitment.’’’