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College Basketball Always Needs A Villain Like Hunter Dickinson .... If He Was Actually On A Decent Team

I don't have anything against Hunter Dickinson. I'm not even a Hunter Dickinson fan. This is simply me, a diehard college basketball guy, realizing what we have in front of us. College basketball needs a Hunter Dickinson. He's a great villain. He's a guy who people who watch the sport knows because he's been on All-American teams and All-Conference teams. 

But something is missing. 

I saw Nate's tweet last night and realized if a casual fan says something like this, here's where we're at: 

He's right. A great college basketball villain works only on a team that is relevant. Michigan can't win games. They aren't close to the NCAA Tournament now. And while the Rutgers comment is a ricochet shot - they are actually good under Steve Pikiell - I understand what Nate is saying. Rutgers is typically the doormat of the Big East...Big 10. Whatever. 

College basketball still needs a Hunter Dickinson. The sport needs characters. Think throughout history. We've had players fill this void. College basketball's personality is too dominated by coaches and programs. I get it. You only have 4 years max with a guy. So having someone like Hunter come in with a ski mask to 'steal a win' is fucking hilarious. Good or bad, he had every casual fan talking about a Michigan/Wisconsin game where the winning team didn't make a bucket for over 10 minutes:

Big 10 basketball baby. 

But Hunter doing all the celebrating, talking shit, whatever, gets lost because Michigan loses. Shit, I know it's not necessarily his fault because Michigan just straight up didn't get him the ball in the 2nd half. But Hunter went 0-for-3 from the field in the second half last night. That can't happen. The best villains dominate the sport and play on teams that can contend for a Final Four. But a villain like Hunter is needed.