Michael Griffith Hopkins (born August 6, 1969) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach who is the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

for the Washington Huskies men's team of the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

. He was a longtime assistant at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

before taking over for Washington in 2017. The 6-foot-5 Hopkins, from Laguna Hills, California, was a fan favorite during his playing days at

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, known for his all-out hustle and general scrappy play.

High school career

Born in the Northern California city of San Mateo and raised in the Southern California city of Laguna Hills, Hopkins was a member of the 1987 California state championship team at Mater Dei High School in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the List of ...

that also featured future

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

player

LeRon Ellis LeRon Perry Ellis (born April 28, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. Ellis was considered to be one of the premier high school basketball players in the nation among the class of 1987 while playing for the top-ranked Sout ...

. Having graduated from Mater Dei in 1988, Hopkins enrolled at Syracuse while Ellis went on to a two-year career at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

. After Kentucky was placed on probation, Hopkins would play an instrumental role in convincing his high school teammate to transfer to Syracuse.

College career

Hopkins played sparingly in his first two seasons at Syracuse before becoming the team's starting shooting guard in his junior year. That year, Hopkins hit the game-winning free throws with three seconds remaining against

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

to propel the Orange to the 1992 Big East Championship. Hopkins was named captain in his senior season and posted a career high of 9.2 points and added 3.7 rebounds per game. He also had a flair for the clutch, heaving a three-quarter court pass to Conrad McRae for a buzzer-beating, game-winning shot against Villanova. In his final game in the

Carrier Dome The JMA Wireless Dome, originally the Carrier Dome (1980–2022) and colloquially called "The Dome," or more recently "The JMA Dome," is a domed sports stadium in Syracuse, New York. Located on the campus of Syracuse University in the University ...

, Hopkins scored a game-high 20 points and tallied six rebounds and five assists in a 78–74 win over

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. Hopkins played 111 games throughout his four-year career spanning from 1989 to 1993. He finished with averages of 5.7 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.

Professional career

Hopkins spent time in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

with the Minnesota-based Rochester Renegade and he also played in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

with teams in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Coaching career

Hopkins returned to Syracuse in 1995 and was primarily involved with recruiting and the development of guards. Hopkins played a large role in developing future NBA player Jason Hart and SU standout Allen Griffin. He has also been credited for recruiting Gerry McNamara and Billy Edelin. In May 2007, it was reported that Hopkins was picked to be Jim Boeheim's successor, even though there was no timetable for Boeheim to retire. However, in October, Athletic Director

Daryl Gross Daryl James Gross (born June 20, 1961) is currently the Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at California State University, Los Angeles. Prior to serving in this position, Gross served as the athletic director at Syracuse University fo ...

refuted that story, saying that his quote was taken out of context. Away from Syracuse, Hopkins was the Court Coach for Team USA in 1998, 2000, 2001, 2010, and 2012. In March 2010, Hopkins' name surfaced in connection with the head coaching vacancy at

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

. Hopkins was reported to be a finalist for the

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

head coaching vacancy in May 2014. On June 25, 2015, Hopkins was formally named Men's Basketball Head Coach-Designate by Syracuse University. Hopkins served as Head Coach during Jim Boeheim's controversial nine game suspension from December 5, 2015 to January 5, 2016. On March 19, 2017, it was announced that Hopkins had been hired as head basketball coach at the University of Washington for the 2017–18 season. Hopkins signed a six-year deal worth $12.3 million. He will earn $1.8 million in his first year and an additional $100,000 each subsequent year of the deal. Coach Hopkins earned the Pac-12's Coach of the Year award in each of his first two seasons at the University of Washington, while also leading the Huskies to a regular season conference title in the 2018–19 season.

Head coaching record

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim was suspended for nine games, during which Hopkins served as the interim head coach and was credited for those games.

References

External links

Washington profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Mike Living people American expatriate basketball people in the Netherlands American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from California People from Laguna Hills, California Rochester Renegade players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Orange County, California Syracuse Orange men's basketball coaches Syracuse Orange men's basketball players Washington Huskies men's basketball coaches People from San Mateo, California 1969 births