Mike Hopkins

[cuseinseattle]

I went to the Husky vs Duck game last night and they were having a Men's Basketball tailgate. I went over and talked to Mike Hopkins for like 30 minutes. No one else was ever there. I had never met him in person before and we talked about Syracuse teams of the past and what he is building at Washington. I can't over state what an amazing guy he was. He gave me his cell number and said any game I want to see he will leave me free tickets. I joked with him about the Roberts commitment and I know he probably felt good but after he was at that Clemson game you never know. He laughed. He was talking about Andrew White scoring 37 and mentioned he talks to Allen Griffin every day.

 

[suttree]

View attachment 114503 I went to the Husky vs Duck game last night and they were having a Men's Basketball tailgate. I went over and talked to Mike Hopkins for like 30 minutes. No one else was ever there. I had never met him in person before and we talked about Syracuse teams of the past and what he is building at Washington. I can't over state what an amazing guy he was. He gave me his cell number and said any game I want to see he will leave me free tickets. I joked with him about the Roberts commitment and I know he probably felt good but after he was at that Clemson game you never know. He laughed. He was talking about Andrew White scoring 37 and mentioned he talks to Allen Griffin every day.

Wow. Awesome. I will root for Hop forever—except when he and SU are in direct competition.

 

[two3zone]

View attachment 114503 I went to the Husky vs Duck game last night and they were having a Men's Basketball tailgate. I went over and talked to Mike Hopkins for like 30 minutes. No one else was ever there. I had never met him in person before and we talked about Syracuse teams of the past and what he is building at Washington. I can't over state what an amazing guy he was. He gave me his cell number and said any game I want to see he will leave me free tickets. I joked with him about the Roberts commitment and I know he probably felt good but after he was at that Clemson game you never know. He laughed. He was talking about Andrew White scoring 37 and mentioned he talks to Allen Griffin every day.

Love Hop!!!!!

 

[NYCSUGrad]

View attachment 114503 I went to the Husky vs Duck game last night and they were having a Men's Basketball tailgate. I went over and talked to Mike Hopkins for like 30 minutes. No one else was ever there. I had never met him in person before and we talked about Syracuse teams of the past and what he is building at Washington. I can't over state what an amazing guy he was. He gave me his cell number and said any game I want to see he will leave me free tickets. I joked with him about the Roberts commitment and I know he probably felt good but after he was at that Clemson game you never know. He laughed. He was talking about Andrew White scoring 37 and mentioned he talks to Allen Griffin every day.

I had met him a few times at MSG then got the room next to his and Autry's in Maui. He was so self deprecating then. I'm pleased beyond words that he's so self confident now.

 

[two3zone]

I had met him a few times at MSG then got the room next to his and Autry's in Maui. He was so self deprecating then. I'm pleased beyond words that he's so self confident now.

I've met Hop probably 50 times, I've never once seen him self deprecated.

 

[AZOrange]

And we let him walk out the door...sigh

 

[cuseinseattle]

He was definitely confident and you could tell all of the kids there respected him and were bought in just based on body language and how engaged they were. He did say that there has been a lot of teaching and putting his own culture in place because there wasn't much of that before. I told a few stories I knew before he got there and I thought they were pretty damning and he just nodded his head and said he wasn't surprised.

 

[cuseinseattle]

He also said he will run a 2-2-1 press, man and zone but use the zone as a weapon and not run it 90% of the time.. He wants to control tempo. I think kind of like Pitino did.

 

[Sherman20]

I've met Hop probably 50 times, I've never once seen him self deprecated.

I think he meant self-effacing, not self-deprecating.

 

[Sherman20]

He also said he will run a 2-2-1 press, man and zone but use the zone as a weapon and not run it 90% of the time.. He wants to control tempo. I think kind of like Pitino did.

In the lead-up to him taking the SU job (before going to UW), I always got the impression he wanted to do things more like Pitino does—more frequent pressing (when he has the personnel) and more man to man, but still lots of zone.

 

[Shenexon]

Reading the stories about his players, they seem to be buying into him. They're impressed with his energy, are working hard on his zone, and believe he's going to make them better. His team narrowly won their exhibition game this week but the kids are believers. It's very cool to see...

 

[OrangeDW]

Awesome. Love reading posts like this.

Hope things go well for him out there.

 

[NYCSUGrad]

I think he meant self-effacing, not self-deprecating.

Perhaps.

 

[cuseinseattle]

The other thing that I thought was really funny is after talking for a few minutes Hop just looked at me and said, "So is this the coldest it gets here?" I said, "Pretty much. We might get some snow. It usually snows every other year or once every 3 years." He just smiled at me and said that's great.

 

[chugg21]

View attachment 114503 I went to the Husky vs Duck game last night and they were having a Men's Basketball tailgate. I went over and talked to Mike Hopkins for like 30 minutes. No one else was ever there. I had never met him in person before and we talked about Syracuse teams of the past and what he is building at Washington. I can't over state what an amazing guy he was. He gave me his cell number and said any game I want to see he will leave me free tickets. I joked with him about the Roberts commitment and I know he probably felt good but after he was at that Clemson game you never know. He laughed. He was talking about Andrew White scoring 37 and mentioned he talks to Allen Griffin every day.

Gosh, I love this. Really hope he has 5 strong years and is ready to come back.

 

[81South]

Mike gave a lot to this program. He was always classy and dignified. You know he will be rooting for us. I will always be a BIG fan of his!

 

[UnknownOrange]

Can't wait for Hop to takeover for JB following his retirement in 2037

 

[NYCSUGrad]

Can't wait for Hop to takeover for JB following his retirement in 2037

Lol Juli would kill him first I'm pretty sure.

 

[orangehomer]

I just want to make sure I understand, the position of the board is that we are actively rooting for a guy that is actively recruiting against us?

 

[Shenexon]

I don't really think there's a "board position". There are a lot of individuals here, some who honor Hopkins and some who don't. It's fine with me if other people don't agree, but some people, including myself, have followed Hopkins a significant part of our lives and indeed wish him well. He had a long career at Syracuse in many different roles and personally I don't hold him leaving against him. He's still one of my favorite people and I hope he has great success at Washington. While I understand why you might feel differently, I don't feel obligated to agree with the "he's dead to me now" perspective.

I just want to make sure I understand, the position of the board is that we are actively rooting for a guy that is actively recruiting against us?

 

[orangehomer]

I don't really think there's a "board position". There are a lot of individuals here, some who honor Hopkins and some who don't. It's fine with me if other people don't agree, but some people, including myself, have followed Hopkins a significant part of our lives and indeed wish him well. He had a long career at Syracuse in many different roles and personally I don't hold him leaving against him. He's still one of my favorite people and I hope he has great success at Washington. While I understand why you might feel differently, I don't feel obligated to agree with the "he's dead to me now" perspective.

awesome response. I don't have a strong position either way, certainly not "he's dead to me now". I would have preferred that he took over as scheduled, but maybe the old man has another run and who am I to say he shouldn't.

 

[orangepassion]

Met Hopkins at the old ABCD summer camps a few times. Just an awesome guy-Very friendly. A little mixed emotions. Thrilled for him, but wish he was still wearing Orange.

 

[OrangeDW]

I just want to make sure I understand, the position of the board is that we are actively rooting for a guy that is actively recruiting against us?

He’s recruiting kids that he already had a relationship with. That’s fair. Going forward, I doubt Cuse and Washington will be going after many of the same kids.

We’re Cuse, we’re going to get players. Not worried about it.

 

[cuseinseattle]

I just want to make sure I understand, the position of the board is that we are actively rooting for a guy that is actively recruiting against us?

I can't speak for others but I'm actively rooting for him to be successful. The reality is that if he has success it will only improve the position we have with in college basketball and then if he were to come back he will have gained valuable head coaching experience. If he doesn't come back it still shows that our people can be successful. These are not the reasons I'm rooting for him though. I'm rooting for him because he's a great person who has done so much for Syracuse basketball. In a year or two I think he will be pulling the majority of his kids from the west coast. He gave everything he had to us for 20 years and I'm not one of these people that just abandons people when they leave the school.

 

[CaptainJ]

I just want to make sure I understand, the position of the board is that we are actively rooting for a guy that is actively recruiting against us?

Tio!!!! I love your avatar, man! I think you may finally influence me to bust my Walt one back from it's vacation in Belize.

I'm rooting for him because the one concert Ive seen him post was Pearl Jam, so he was very smart to move to Seattle.

As for the recruiting, i was mocked rather harshly when I suggested we may turn into a legitmate threat to take away candidates who have gotten Cuse interest. "Impossible", I was told. Even after it happened once, twice, three times a Hopkins in a span of months. I'm happy for the guy and wasnt joking in my first sentence when I said I'll be rooting for him, other than when he's in competition with the Cuse.