University of Washington Hire Coach

                                    New Husky Head Men's basketball coach Mike Hopkins

The University of Washington Huskies didn’t take long to hire their newest men’s basketball coach. I am sure not many who follow the Huskies basketball program knew much about Mike Hopkins that was named head coach on Sunday March 19. I certainly didn’t know who he was and had to do some research on him.

He was the assistant head coach of the Syracuse. He was expected to be the next coach as designated by Syracuse however now that he is Huskies coach the Orangemen extended Coach Jim Boeheim’s contact that was ending next season.

It looks to me like a really good hire. Although he has never been a head coach he did play important part with the Syracuse Orangemen. He is known as a hard worker that has been a top recruiter for Syracuse.  U of Washington’s athletic director Jennifer Cohen said not only did he have quite the reputation in the college basketball community in the end it had to do with his vision for the Washington program.

It is reported that the Huskies are signing Hopkins to a six year contract so he will be around for some time. I am sure Cohen made sure that Hopkins not be someone would go back to Syracuse if the opportunity would arise anytime soon.

At this point there is no idea who he may bring with him as assistants from Syracuse or elsewhere.  Former Huskie player and assistant coach Will Conroy is expected to be part of Hopkins’s staff though. It will be interesting if any other assistants on Romar’s staff will be retained.

Now the question will be what players will return next year. We had heard that three players were thinking of transferring and those who had been recruited as incoming freshmen would look to go elsewhere as well. A coach from a high profile program like Syracuse this list could go lower. I am sure though Michael Porter Jr. the Huskies top recruit who is expected to be one of those one and done players will go elsewhere for one season. It would be nice if the Huskies could retain several of the other recruits that were expected to come in.

I don’t see that the Huskies under Hopkins will look to bring in any one and done players in the future unless they are someone who would benefit the program as an added piece to the program to when a national championship.

I am sure the Huskies fans will now be excited to see what Hopkins will do for the program. With the local basketball talent in Washington State it would be nice to see the Huskies to compete with Gonzaga as a power-house. Look forward to see them play each other as well.

I am sure the days and weeks ahead we will see who will stay as players along with the new coaching staff that Hopkins bring in. I thought it would be nice to have someone that is comparable to football coach Chris Peterson and it looks like this could be the man. Go Huskies!