Each player on Michigan men's basketball's roster understands, represents, really embodies

the culture that Joanne Howard and the staff have instilled.

Whether we're talking about a senior veteran or a member of this highly touted freshman class

or the walk-ons who do so much great work in prep and in practice for the upcoming games.

But if you're looking for the most symbolic of this

Joanne Howard era to this point, I'd suggest Hunter Dickinson. The easy comparison right out

of the gates, of course, look at the position Joanne played and Hunter plays. Then you consider

the fact that Hunter was the top-ranked recruit on the first recruiting class of Coach Howard's,

the best in the Big Ten.

Throw in the attitudes that these two display when talking to the media.

You love the Juwan Howard for competitors only.

You think about Hunter when he was a senior in high school.

That's your guy's number one prospect.

I feel like I'm better.

That comment from a year ago gained plenty of headlines.

There are plenty of similarities with how they handle it, with a respect, but with a confidence.

And yeah, Joanne had, and Hunter is having big impacts on a title contender as freshmen.

It's easy to ebb and flow with your answers to questions like, oh, well, who's

Michigan's best player, most important player, highest pro upside, who's the X factor, et cetera,

et cetera, et cetera. The best part about this team is that those answers can change almost game by

game depending on how the previous game went. But Hunter embodies so much of what this program has become, what this culture has produced,

and what can be accomplished not just over the next few weeks, and there are plenty of things,

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