If you needed any other reason to love Hop...

[Rocco]

This article was awesome by Mike Waters. We are truly blessed to have Hop here, especially when we know who will take over the program when the beloved JB decides to step down. Orange Nation is surely in good hands for years and years to come. Hop is one of the best recruiters in the country, one of the more passionate coaching minds and has a great sense of community pride through and through. You can find some of those qualities in candidates out there, but it's not often you can find all of those traits in the same person. He's had multiple opportunities at HC jobs, but has held true to Syracuse.

http://www.syracuse.com/orangebaske...se_basketball_assistant_1.html#incart_m-rpt-2

This particular excerpt made me smile, from ear to ear,

" 'People ask me 'Where are you from?' says Hopkins, who turned 44 in August. "I'll say I was born in California, but I was raised in Syracuse. I've spent 24 years here, more than half my life. It's where I met my wife. It's where my kids were born. It's where I played. It's where my career started. The community's embraced me. I feel very connected.''

Yet another one,

"USC announced Enfield as the school's new head basketball coach on a Monday. The next day Boeheim said, "Mike was, by far, the best candidate they had. Far and away, the best candidate they had.''
Six months later, Boeheim's words of praise still get to Hopkins.
"What Coach said was the greatest thing,'' Hopkins said. "I wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for him. He gave me a chance. Back then people weren't hiring guys who hadn't coached. He took a chance on me. He put me in every situation. He got me into USA Basketball and all the Olympic stuff. He tries to teach me everything he can. He lets me grow. For him to say that at the end ...''
Hopkins' voice trails off. He doesn't, or can't, finish the sentence."

Thank you Hop for staying true to Syracuse. You are already have full support from the Syracuse community. You are an inspiration to many of us.

 

[longtimefan]

This article was awesome by Mike Waters. We are truly blessed to have Hop here, especially when we know who will take over the program when the beloved JB decides to step down. Orange Nation is surely in good hands for years and years to come. Hop is one of the best recruiters in the country, one of the more passionate coaching minds and has a great sense of community pride through and through. You can find some of those qualities in candidates out there, but it's not often you can find all of those traits in the same person. He's had multiple opportunities at HC jobs, but has held true to Syracuse.

http://www.syracuse.com/orangebaske...se_basketball_assistant_1.html#incart_m-rpt-2

This particular excerpt made me smile, from ear to ear,

Yet another one,




Thank you Hop for staying true to Syracuse. You are already have full support from the Syracuse community. You are an inspiration to many of us.

JB's greatest strength (and sometimes weakness) has been loyalty. The loyalty he has given to players and program has come back to him, which bodes well for the future of SU basketball.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Plus he'll stop at nothing in terms of recruiting. Case in point, just yesterday he hitched a ride on a Soyuz rocket to check out and do an in-home visit with a hot prospect from the International Space Station.

http://www.universetoday.com/105031...tion-3738-to-the-international-space-station/

 

[supp]

This article was awesome by Mike Waters. We are truly blessed to have Hop here, especially when we know who will take over the program when the beloved JB decides to step down. Orange Nation is surely in good hands for years and years to come. Hop is one of the best recruiters in the country, one of the more passionate coaching minds and has a great sense of community pride through and through. You can find some of those qualities in candidates out there, but it's not often you can find all of those traits in the same person. He's had multiple opportunities at HC jobs, but has held true to Syracuse.

http://www.syracuse.com/orangebaske...se_basketball_assistant_1.html#incart_m-rpt-2

This particular excerpt made me smile, from ear to ear,

Yet another one,




Thank you Hop for staying true to Syracuse. You are already have full support from the Syracuse community. You are an inspiration to many of us.

Love all the photos, old and new, that they've put up. With every passing year, Hop looks more and more like John Beilein's son.

 

[AZOrange]

Best part of that story was about his kid. God it made me laugh


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Wayne Morgan once told a friend of mine that Mike Hopkins was the blackest white guy he'd ever met. He's just California cool, like Ronnie "Sunshine" Bass.

Sent from my SCH-I200 using Tapatalk 2

 

[bballbeadle]

I remember at the time that when Boeheim said that Mike was "by far the best candidate," I was surprised and touched by the vehemence of his statement. It says everything about Boeheim's integrity when it comes to personal relationships (yes, even Bernie). Boeheim is grooming Hop for head coach, he wants Hop to be head coach, he thinks it will be the very best thing for our program, yet it was clear that he was 100% behind Mike doing what was best for Mike. It didn't sound to me at all like there was any behind the scenes arm twisting or wheedling or maybe some quiet sobbing. I am also sure that Coach was intensely relieved when Hop didn't get the job (as were we all, I assume). Yet, what does he say? Not the standard "we are all happy Mike Hopkins has chosen to stay in the Syracuse family yadda yadda," but instead a categorical, definitive statement: HE WAS THE BEST MAN FOR THE JOB. BY FAR.

Wow. No wonder Mike still tears up! It makes me tear up!

 

[SUintheVille]

A coaching staff doesn't get much better when you have JB at the helm and Hop right there next to him! Add AA and GMac to the mix, and we have a great coaching staff!

 

[pearl31]

if only he could boast to recruits that he talked to Lebron once

 

[realorange]

if only he could boast to recruits that he talked to Lebron once

Actually, he can say he has personal relationships with every member of the US Olympic Team. Which of course is the elite of the NBA.

 

[Rocco]

A coaching staff doesn't get much better when you have JB at the helm and Hop right there next to him! Add AA and GMac to the mix, and we have a great coaching staff!

I can truly see GMac taking over for Hop way down the road. That would be awesome.

 

[Conrad13]

Wayne Morgan once told a friend of mine that Mike Hopkins was the blackest white guy he'd ever met. He's just California cool, like Ronnie "Sunshine" Bass.

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I remember reading an article about Scoop last year where he said that Hop was entered as "white Dad" in his cell phone, which cracked me up. I will be curious to see how the program changes when Hop takes over. I'd guess that the basketball philosophy will be similar, but it seems like Hop has been playing the good cop for so many years and I'll be interested to see how he behaves when he's in charge.

 

[bballbeadle]

I remember reading an article about Scoop last year where he said that Hop was entered as "white Dad" in his cell phone, which cracked me up. I will be curious to see how the program changes when Hop takes over. I'd guess that the basketball philosophy will be similar, but it seems like Hop has been playing the good cop for so many years and I'll be interested to see how he behaves when he's in charge.

A very interesting point, and I have wondered it myself.