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Projecting Top-10 PF Noah Dickerson’s Landing Spot

By Cody Daniel

Apr 4, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Montverde Academy forward/center Noah Dickerson (1) dunks the ball against Oak Hill Academy during the Dick's Sporting Goods High School Nationals boys final game at at Madison Square Garden. Montverde defeated Oak Hill 70-61. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 4, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Montverde Academy forward/center Noah Dickerson (1) dunks the ball against Oak Hill Academy during the Dick's Sporting Goods High School Nationals boys final game at at Madison Square Garden. Montverde defeated Oak Hill 70-61. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports /
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For the second time this week, the eyes of the college basketball recruiting world have angled towards the highest-ranked uncommitted recruit left on the board. Prior to his Tuesday afternoon decision, that title belonged to top-10 small forward Tevin Mack, whom followed Shaka Smart from VCU to Texas.

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With that, the focus has shifted to Noah Dickerson, a four-star power forward and former Florida commit after Dickerson was released from his national letter of intent at Florida following head coach Billy Donovan’s departure to the NBA.

With the top-10 power forward’s recruitment now reopened, Texas, Washington and Cal have all shown interest and each will receive an official visit from the Montverde (Fla.) Academy product in the coming weeks.

As of now, none of the teams currently in the running for the 6’8” big man necessarily “need” to land him on campus, as Cal, Texas and Washington all have top-15 recruiting classes, with the Golden Bears leading the way at No. 5.

But of course, there isn’t a program in the country that would defer from the possibility of adding a versatile talent like Dickerson, regardless of their current roster situation.

Here’s how I see Dickerson’s second recruitment playing out.

Initially, the assumption would be that the Golden Bears are a long shot at best. Cuonzo Martin has assembled a terrific recruiting class at Cal, highlighted by five-star talents Jalen Brown and Ivan Rabb.

Cal could certainly use another big man to add to a roster that’s rather perimeter powered, but between four incoming recruits and a plethora of returning talent, the Golden Bears don’t have any more scholarships available. Unless Martin can somehow make room for the Florida power forward, Dickerson won’t be headed to Berkeley.

But the Horns’ and Huskies both have an available scholarship for Dickerson, and he’s openly raved about both programs recently, per 247 Sports.

Dickerson had the following to say about Texas:

"“Everybody knows coach Smart is a phenomenal coach,” Dickerson said. “My mom and I believe the offense he runs would fit how I play and how I would need to play to make my jump to the next level, if there is one.“It would be a perfect fit for me in the offense. He sees me as a player who could play inside and out. I can shoot the ball a little bit and I can handle the ball a little bit. So I can play both.”"

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    • When you hear a recruit refer to himself as a “perfect fit” in a system, there’s always the thought that the team in discussion could very likely land the recruit. This is true in the Longhorns’ case, but there’s one major issue that may push Dickerson away from Austin: the logjam down low.

    In 2015-16, Smart will have Cameron Ridley, Prince Ibeh, Shaquille Cleare and Connor Lammert at his disposal in the paint. Minutes will already be at a premium and adding Dickerson to the mix will only congest the rotation further.

    The key for Dickerson will be whether or not he’s willing to spectate for a season before potentially jumping into a starting role after next season once Ridley, Ibeh and Lammert all use up their eligibility.

    If Dickerson has no issue with competing for limited minutes as a freshman and learning underneath some vets, my guess would be Texas as his landing spot, just as the they’re the favorite for him as of now, per 247 Sports Crystal Ball projections.

    On the other hand, Dickerson raved to 247 Sports about Washington, as well.

    "“Their recruiting class next year is a really, really good recruiting class,” Dickerson said. “In that recruiting class, I think I’d be one of the missing pieces to bring it all together. Washington has had a lot of good players come out of there, but they haven’t been big the last couple of years. So we could bring the hype back to Washington, which would be pretty cool.”"

    In this case, Dickerson would be presented with an immediate opportunity to not only come in and compete for significant minutes, but potentially start with Shawn Kemp Jr. gone. Dickerson’s biggest obstacle as a freshman would seemingly be to outperform fellow incoming freshman and No. 13 ranked power forward Marquese Chriss.

    Both sides have a clear case to land he coveted big man, but Dickerson’s own words point towards what should be a busy final few weeks in his recruitment as a toss up with no clear favorite.

    "“I’m not going in there looking for anything,” Dickerson said. “They’re going to have to recruit me. I’m not going in there to look at things and they need to show me what they need to show me.”"

    Ultimately, and as usual, several factors will come into play before a decision is reached. Which coach has established a stronger relationship? Which system fits Dickerson’s abilities better? How important is his role as a freshman?

    When it’s all said and done, I believe we will be seeing Shaka Smart pick up his second commit as the leader of the Longhorns. The relationship’s Smart have been known to establish are the backbone of his recruiting and considering Dickerson isn’t necessarily a one-and-done talent, limited minutes as he develops may not be a deciding factor.

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