Mike Hopkins to the Phoenix Suns

[AZOrange]

Unless there’s a collapse he’s getting another year….and there’s talk of a 3rd COY in 5 years.

They were dead….remarkable turnaround.

He can’t coach. He won’t win COY (UofA coach will) but he should be at the top of our list.

 

[AZOrange]

UW’s schedule is backloaded. Four of the seven conference wins are against Cal (2-10 in conference) and Utah (2-11), another is against Oregon State (1-8). They’ve had games against Arizona, UCLA and Gonzaga cancelled or postponed. I’d wait a little longer before deciding Hop has turned things around or is a COY candidate.

Most “experts” didn’t have UW winning 7 games much less 7 in conference with all the transfers

 

[Jake]

UW’s schedule is backloaded. Four of the seven conference wins are against Cal (2-10 in conference) and Utah (2-11), another is against Oregon State (1-8). They’ve had games against Arizona, UCLA and Gonzaga cancelled or postponed. I’d wait a little longer before deciding Hop has turned things around or is a COY candidate.

Pac-12 power ratings: As UW climbs the standings, Mike Hopkins’ return looks inevitable

The two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year was seemingly on the hot seat when the season began. But UW’s success has cooled the situation.

www.mercurynews.com

Agreed that the toughest part of the schedule is to come…but he already is a candidate for COY. I believe Wilner has a vote.

Lloyd likely locked it up last night.

 

[rrlbees]

Hops contract goes through the 24/25 season. But his buy out goes to $0 after next season. It was $6m last season, went to $3m this season and goes to $1m next season. If next year was JBs last, Hops contract would fit.

 

[Jake]

Hope contract goes through the 24/25 season. But his buy out goes to $0 after next season. It was $6m last season, went to $3m this season and goes to $1m next season. If next year was JBs last, Hops contract would fit.

Yep. Wash might need to extend two years for recruiting. No idea if they put a buyout in though.

 

[Willy75]

Oddly his availability for SU seems to depend on mediocre or poor performance at UW, which in turn negatively affects his attractiveness to our fan base.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Oddly his availability for SU seems to depend on mediocre or poor performance at UW, which in turn negatively affects his attractiveness to our fan base.

Not 100% true. He can be successful and still be our next coach. We might just have to pay him more for his success.

 

[orangefog]

Not 100% true. He can be successful and still be our next coach. We might just have to pay him more for his success.

Considering it's not my money, I hope he is really successful and we have to pay him a ton.

 

[Sherman20]

Unless there’s a collapse he’s getting another year….and there’s talk of a 3rd COY in 5 years.

They were dead….remarkable turnaround.

Agreed. Tommy Lloyd will likely win COY, but Hopkins could be in the running, depending on how they finish the season. They have a real gauntlet coming up in mid to late February, so they’ll take some losses. They need to beat Stanford on the road this weekend. Terrell Brown, who transferred from Arizona, is a helluva player for them.

 

[Sherman20]

He can’t coach. He won’t win COY (UofA coach will) but he should be at the top of our list.

Hop “can’t” coach? OK then. Hyperbole like that is so absurd.

 

[AZOrange]

Hop “can’t” coach? OK then. Hyperbole like that is so absurd.

Sarcasm amigo…but it’s expressed on here alot

 

[AlaskaSU]

I want to hire from within. Not closing the deal on high ranked recruits is hard when you have 2 strikes against you: all zone and a NE team in a SE Conf. Therefore, I do not blams staff. Coaching stability is a selling point that we stand to lose if we go outside. Once lost it would be difficulf to vet it back. A successful coach will leave for a higher paying job. We are not the be all end all of coaching jobs. We are not as desirable as we were when we were the Beast of the East.

 

[Dinkyspond]

He's not leaving the West Coast if he keeps his job and UW turns it around after the last couple of years. If he got fired, it might be a different story

 

[Sherman20]

Sarcasm amigo…but it’s expressed on here alot

Aha. Yea, I thought you liked Hop. But I get that hiring him might be difficult for the AD because of his record the last few years (he still has more head coaching experience than Red or GMac!). You’d get killed by the fan base anywhere else, though Syracuse fans might be more understanding, especially if he can get Wash back in an upswing the next couple of years.

 

[Sherman20]

He's not leaving the West Coast if he keeps his job and UW turns it around after the last couple of years. If he got fired, it might be a different story

Where are you getting that? Recruiting has been very difficult on the West Coast for him, as others have alluded to. He’d be able to recruit much better on the East Coast where he’s built up decades of connections and loyalty.

 

[CousCuse]

Where are you getting that? Recruiting has been very difficult on the West Coast for him, as others have alluded to. He’d be able to recruit much better on the East Coast where he’s built up decades of connections and loyalty.

And his wife's family lives in Syracuse.

 

[ar inj]

Where are you getting that? Recruiting has been very difficult on the West Coast for him, as others have alluded to. He’d be able to recruit much better on the East Coast where he’s built up decades of connections and loyalty.

Maybe he and his family are not interested in returning to Syracuse or SU.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Can’t believe I am agreeing with Couscuse, but he’s actually right here for once.

 

[kuethstheman]

Maybe he and his family are not interested in returning to Syracuse or SU.

Or maybe they are?

 

[Jake]

I’ll take Hop, Red, Gerry and Paulus and give everyone else “the field” when JB retires.

I’d love to see Shaka and Cooley in the mix, but I think Shaka will want too much $ and Cooley might be very comfy at PC.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I’ll take Hop, Red, Gerry and Paulus and give everyone else “the field” when JB retires.

I’d love to see Shaka and Cooley in the mix, but I think Shaka will want too much $ and Cooley might be very comfy at PC.

I think this is spot on. One thing I'll say is if people have concerns about Hop they should have similar concerns about Shaka. I know he's been good this year at Marquette, but his Texas tenure was not all that.

 

[AZOrange]

I think this is spot on. One thing I'll say is if people have concerns about Hop, they should have similar concerns about Shaka. I know he's been good this year at Marquette, but his Texas tenure was not all that.

And that’s the problem in a nutshell. JB will be gone very soon and the dearth of hot young coaches is very apparent

 

[Sherman20]

What's been most surprising to me is how a large subset of posters can't seem to separate their reverence for Hopkins enough to be objective about his performance, and the declining trend over the last several years. It paints a tremendously worrisome picture -- and as stated above, if we crossed out his name and submitted that resume for "Tom Smith," nobody would stand for hiring a coach with that track record.

Additionally, anyone who has watched UW play can attest that they play very similar to Syracuse on BOTH sides of the ball. So what I find especially disconcerting is that Hop appears to be a no-trick pony, who basically just copied the same stuff that JB does -- but as you point out, isn't nearly as good of a coach.

Personality / energy are great, but what we need requires more than just that. I don't want a Danny Hurley-type coach who is all about intensity but the product is slop ball.

As you state, Hopkins will be in the mix, but I find it difficult to believe that he'll be the most qualified candidate. Again, Wildhack has zero incentive to restrict his candidate pool to only consider in-house options -- that ship has sailed, and Hopkins got exposed. Three years ago, coming off of two consecutive POY awards in the PAC-12, this would have been viewed as a home run hire. Today, he has probably coached himself out of contention.

RF, did you watch Jeff Goodman and Mike Waters on Waters’ podcast from last week? They both seem convinced that Cuse will follow the Duke and UNC model and stay in house with Red or Gmac. Are they completely off base? I have no idea what to think and would like JW to make a home run hire from outside to follow JB, but I worry that Goodman could be right and we stay in house. Right now I’d rather see Hop than Red or Gmac if it comes to staying in the family.

 

[orangepassion]

FWIW
Duke's decisive win in Coach K's final game at North Carolina is another disappointing loss for Hubert Davis

 

[Day2]

UW’s schedule is backloaded. Four of the seven conference wins are against Cal (2-10 in conference) and Utah (2-11), another is against Oregon State (1-8). They’ve had games against Arizona, UCLA and Gonzaga cancelled or postponed. I’d wait a little longer before deciding Hop has turned things around or is a COY candidate.

Thank you for being the voice of reason. I can’t believe people are back on the Hop bandwagon simply because he’s beating up on the dregs of the Pac-12. Washington is basically Louisville when they started off 4-0 in ACC play. They haven’t played anyone yet.

Good for Hop for saving his job. Doesn’t mean his next job should be SU.