Who honestly has confidence in Mike Hopkins as the next HC

[Todoubled23]

I am hard and fair.
If this program didn’t have high standards to begin with then the last 5 years would be normal almost anywhere.
Michigan State pre-Izzo wasn’t what it has been.
The end of Louisville under Denny Crum was terrible.

Boeheim has built the program to be a top 10 program nationally. He is a deserving HOFer for a reason. The facilities, fanbase, conference, access to talent location wise all helped him and make this job.

Washington is a good job. The conference though sucks.
Oregon made a Final Four.
Arizona keeps choking in the Elite 8.
UCLA ran off its most successful coach since Wooden.

The Syracuse job is better. Has more upside and it’s not close.

This

 

[jgeorge322]

Seattle is a great city., no doubt. Unfortunately for UW fans, that does not guarantee Hop is going to stay there.

If you know anything about Mike Hopkins, you know how intensely loyal he is.

If you know anything about his background, you know his story. You know how one man saw something in him no one else saw, took a chance on him and brought him to Syracuse as a scholarship player. That act completely changed his life.

I have seen Mike talk about where he was in high school, what his options were, what kind of a player he was. I have seen his eyes fill with tears when he discusses how grateful he was for the lifeline Jim Boeheim and Syracuse University gave him with that scholarship offer.

That alone would probably be enough to get him to come back if his alma mater and mentor needed him.

But then JB intervened in his life a second time when his short lived pro career was winding down and he was trying to figure out what was next in his life.

Again Jim Boeheim stepped him and gave him a life line, offering a position (I believe as a GA) on the SU basketball staff. He steadily promoted him over the years, gave him more and more responsibility and even got him on the Olympic team coaching staff.

Mike is fiercely loyal to Jim. He loves him and loves his alma mater. I have no doubt he is extremely grateful to UW for finally giving him a chance to be a HC. I have no doubt Seattle is a great place for his family and he would have a hard time leaving. That same loyalty applies to UW.

But Syracuse is going to forever be in his heart and if his alma mater needs him, it will be almost impossible for him to ignore the call.

If I were you HuskyHooper, I would root for the Syracuse basketball to do as well as possible for as long as possible.

The worse the Syracuse basketball program gets, the more likely Mike will be coming back. I don’t see him see him staying in Seattle while the program that he has lived and died for turns into garbage. Especially not if he is asked to return by one James Arthur Boeheim.

am i crying. probably not. but maybe.

 

[Trueblue25]

There’s no such thing as a rebuild with a brand like Syracuse basketball. We aren’t Pitt or Uconn. Hop would be walking into a recruiting pool he already dominates and a fanbase that sets the bar for college basketball

It’d be a restructuring and sure there may be bumps and bruises, but we arent going to ever be a sub 15 win team. The expectations always NCAAT

 

[CuseFaninVT]

There’s no such thing as a rebuild with a brand like Syracuse basketball. We aren’t Pitt or Uconn. Hop would be walking into a recruiting pool he already dominates and a fanbase that sets the bar for college basketball

It’d be a restructuring and sure there may be bumps and bruises, but we arent going to ever be a sub 15 win team. The expectations always NCAAT

I think you are absolutely correct about Hop, which in my mind makes him the best candidate. I really don't know, or have confidence in, the Syracuse 'brand' being able to reach even current levels under a new HC that isn't Mike. I know UConn is way down, but they have more NCs than SU, but yet they flounder. What makes everyone so confident any other HC would be able to right the Syracuse ship (assuming the downward trend continues)?

 

[Alsacs]

I think you are absolutely correct about Hop, which in my mind makes him the best candidate. I really don't know, or have confidence in, the Syracuse 'brand' being able to reach even current levels under a new HC that isn't Mike. I know UConn is way down, but they have more NCs than SU, but yet they flounder. What makes everyone so confident any other HC would be able to right the Syracuse ship (assuming the downward trend continues)?

UConn doesn't have the fanbase Syracuse does.

The Most-Valuable College Basketball Teams

The sport's powerhouses—Louisville, Kentucky, Indiana, Duke—dominate the top of the list. And those positions are fortified enough to last through both wins and losses.

www.forbes.com

They are good but they can't even fillup their small on campus arena for games.
Syracuse in average year would get 15k for Colgate. That is probably 3 home games at Gampel for UConn.

 

[Cusefan0307]

UConn is in the AAC and NBE. Apples to Oranges. Also they were never good until the 80’s. We’ve been good for decades.

 

[orangecuse]

UConn is in the AAC and NBE. Apples to Oranges. Also they were never good until the 80’s. We’ve been good for decades.

If UConn has been good since the 80's, doesn't that qualify as "good for decades?" And, it's quite interesting to me how people here generally can continually diss their program, etc., especially with the fact that they have quatro natties to our uno. Clearly, in that regard, their program holds a significant honor/distinction over ours.

 

[Cusefan0307]

If UConn has been good since the 80's, doesn't that qualify as "good for decades?" And, it's quite interesting to me how people here can continually diss their program, etc., especially with the fact that they have quatro natties to our uno. Clearly, in that regard, their program holds a significant honor/distinction over ours.

Where's that Big10/ACC invite?

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Where's that Big10/ACC invite?

I highly doubt it has anything to do with their basketball team. We all know that football drives the conference alignments these days.

 

[orangecuse]

Where's that Big10/ACC invite?

Well, as you know, it had everything to do with football, TV sets, geography, etc, and zilch to do with hoops. See Rutgirls. As I've mentioned in the past, every single fan of Syracuse sports should kiss the ACC's arse everyday of the week and twice on Sunday's for the ACC invite & gift of a lifetime. Otherwise, our athletic department wouldn't be any different than UConn's, except again for the fact that they have 4 natties to our 1 in hoops.

 

[Alsacs]

If UConn has been good since the 80's, doesn't that qualify as "good for decades?" And, it's quite interesting to me how people here generally can continually diss their program, etc., especially with the fact that they have quatro natties to our uno. Clearly, in that regard, their program holds a significant honor/distinction over ours.

Georgetown was dominant in the 1980s.
UConn started being dominant in 1990.
They have been good since then.

Syracuse was the most consistent team of the Big East from the beginning till we left.
UConn gets the most out of the runs. They have 5 FFs and 4 NCs.
We have 5 FFs and 1 NC.
Now one of them 1987 we literally lost in private punching way and I don't want to even describe
In 1996 we played one of the best college modern college teams of alltime.
In 2003 we won it all.
2013 our offense cost us a NC IMO. If we have a decent offense we win it all.
2016 was the fluke year we didn't have a NC team but still made a Final Four.

They have the titles so they get that credit but this isn't a situation where we have underachieved like Arizona. Outside of Duke 1999 who was a dominant team. They have played 3 seed Georgia Tech in 2004, 8 seed Butler in 2011, 8 seed Kentucky in 2014. They won them so they get the credit but to have that horseshoe up their butts of playing two 8 seeds in the NC game is frustrating, We never got that luck unfortunately.

Michigan State has all those Final Fours under Izzo 8 of them and only 1 NC. Michigan State is a better program than UConn though.

 

[sutomcat]

Well, as you know, it had everything to do with football, TV sets, geography, etc, and zilch to do with hoops. See Rutgirls. As I've mentioned in the past, every single fan of Syracuse sports should kiss the ACC's arse everyday of the week and twice on Sunday's for the ACC invite & gift of a lifetime. Otherwise, our athletic department wouldn't be any different than UConn's, except again for the fact that they have 4 natties to our 1 in hoops.

This isn't true. Once the Big East started breaking up, the only question for Syracuse was whether they would go to the ACC or the B1G. We knew the ACC was a better fit for us and made the right choice.

If not for the ACC, we could have been Rutgers. That could have happened, though we had been getting courted by the ACC since at least 1990.

We would never, under any circumstances, be stuck in the same place that UConn ended up. Now if we ended up in Rutgers slot in the B1G, Rutgers might have ended up in the ACC. But I think it just as likely that UConn could have been the ACC choice and Rutgers would have been left out in the cold.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I highly doubt it has anything to do with their basketball team. We all know that football drives the conference alignments these days.

Rutgers.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Rutgers.

I'm not sure what point you are trying to make. They went to the BIG because their football team has been decent for the last decade or so (absolutely not looking that up).

By the way, watch out for that hoops team. My boy Mike is going to get that squad straightened out soon.

 

[Alsacs]

What drove college expansion was cable boxes and networks being owned by conferences.
Rutgers had NJ and was close enough to NYC that the Big Ten along with its relationship with Fox who owned half of the BTN and bought YES from the Yankees could get BTN on basic cable in NYC.
NJ population > CT population. The Big Ten chose Rutgers over UConn.

Syracuse was considered for the Big Ten but it wasn't a good fit. 11 of 12 members state university land grant flagships and private school Northwestern in Chicago.
ACC was where we wanted ever since 2003.
ACC expanded because it needed more schools to renegotiate a bad TV long term contract that would have left it vulnerable to be poached by the Big Ten and SEC.
ESPN protected the ACC so they added Syracuse whom they always liked and chose Pitt over UConn because of bad blood from BC and suing the conference and WVU because the ACC didn't like the academics when Pitt was available.

Big Ten wanted UVA and UNC first. Both schools declined so they went to Rutgers for the reasons above and Maryland to get into DC for more cable boxes. Maryland only agreed because Debbie Yow wasted a lot of money in the AD and the school was going to have to cut a lot of sports because they couldn't raise money from students in the general fund like Rutgers and a lot of other public schools do.

I wish I could spend the time to write a book as I could do it well with cooperation.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I'm not sure what point you are trying to make. They went to the BIG because their football team has been decent for the last decade or so (absolutely not looking that up).

By the way, watch out for that hoops team. My boy Mike is going to get that squad straightened out soon.

Rutgers never won anything except with Schiano when he was there. He had 7 winning seasons. They have been 4-8 or worse 5 season in a row and their basketball program has FIFTEEN straight losing seasons. FIFTEEN!!!

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Rutgers never won anything except with Schiano when he was there. He had 7 winning seasons. They have been 4-8 or worse 5 season in a row and their basketball program has FIFTEEN straight losing seasons. FIFTEEN!!!

Larkin will fix it.

 

[orangecuse]

Georgetown was dominant in the 1980s.
UConn started being dominant in 1990.
They have been good since then.

Syracuse was the most consistent team of the Big East from the beginning till we left.
UConn gets the most out of the runs. They have 5 FFs and 4 NCs.
We have 5 FFs and 1 NC.
Now one of them 1987 we literally lost in private punching way and I don't want to even describe
In 1996 we played one of the best college modern college teams of alltime.
In 2003 we won it all.
2013 our offense cost us a NC IMO. If we have a decent offense we win it all.
2016 was the fluke year we didn't have a NC team but still made a Final Four.

They have the titles so they get that credit but this isn't a situation where we have underachieved like Arizona. Outside of Duke 1999 who was a dominant team. They have played 3 seed Georgia Tech in 2004, 8 seed Butler in 2011, 8 seed Kentucky in 2014. They won them so they get the credit but to have that horseshoe up their butts of playing two 8 seeds in the NC game is frustrating, We never got that luck unfortunately.

Michigan State has all those Final Fours under Izzo 8 of them and only 1 NC. Michigan State is a better program than UConn though.

I'm in my mid 50's, and I've been a diehard SU fan since the Jimmy Lee days, so, I am well aware of what you've written. That being said, at the end of the day, they have four national championships in hoops, which trumps our lone wolf one considerably.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Larkin will fix it.

Your posts are strange lately to me and I am sincerely not personally attacking you. You're bullish on Rutgers, yet pessimistic on Syracuse. Makes zero sense to me Rutgers hasn't made the tournament since 1990. I don't understand the logic.

 

[orangecuse]

This isn't true. Once the Big East started breaking up, the only question for Syracuse was whether they would go to the ACC or the B1G. We knew the ACC was a better fit for us and made the right choice.

If not for the ACC, we could have been Rutgers. That could have happened, though we had been getting courted by the ACC since at least 1990.

We would never, under any circumstances, be stuck in the same place that UConn ended up. Now if we ended up in Rutgers slot in the B1G, Rutgers might have ended up in the ACC. But I think it just as likely that UConn could have been the ACC choice and Rutgers would have been left out in the cold.

I don't know about "never, under any circumstances" as that is 100% your opinion. There are no guarantees, but probabilities. No one had foreseen the 2004 expansion debacle. I realize SU rather desperately needed to get either an ACC or B1G invite, knowing the dire circumstances of being left without a chair to sit in once the music stopped. Who knows for sure if the B1G takes us over Rutgers if we don't get that ACC invite. Syracuse by no means was in a voluntary hedging position. Many here I recall were quite concerned about SU's plight if an offer hypothetically never came. There was a lot of debate of who best captured NYC's lucrative TV market, etc. and it wasn't clear it was Syracuse over UConn and or Rutgers. Fortunately, similar as the Colts left Baltimore in the middle of night, we quietly got that ACC lifeline.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Your posts are strange lately to me and I am sincerely not personally attacking you. You're bullish on Rutgers, yet pessimistic on Syracuse. Makes zero sense to me Rutgers hasn't made the tournament since 1990. I don't understand the logic.

I'm really not bullish on Rutgers. A guy I know from up here is now on the staff at Rutgers. He's a good dude, we used to play hoops together. That's all. I don't know, nor care, how well they will do.

I just am having a hard time seeing the path to success after JB if it does not include Hopkins. Recent conversations on here make me think there is more likelihood he returns, but if he doesn't, I don't know where the program is heading. Probably the better way to say that is I can't envision where it goes, because there feels like way too many variables. That has to be on the minds of many recruits who would otherwise consider us as well.

Syracuse is an elite program, or was in recent years, but is that because of the brand? Or is the brand because of JB?

 

[two3zone]

Yeah, people never want to go back to the school they played at with a fan base that actually cares about basketball.

Did you watch the Gonzaga game? Students and fans confused me if they didnt care. Our student section blows.

 

[Fly Rodder]

Did you watch the Gonzaga game? Students and fans confused me if they didnt care. Our student section blows.

I think a lot of it has to do with playing in a giant barn. You put 16k-20k SU fans in an NBA arena, and the place would be lit.

 

[sutomcat]

I don't know about "never, under any circumstances" as that is 100% your opinion. There are no guarantees, but probabilities. No one had foreseen the 2004 expansion debacle. I realize SU rather desperately needed to get either an ACC or B1G invite, knowing the dire circumstances of being left without a chair to sit in once the music stopped. Who knows for sure if the B1G takes us over Rutgers if we don't get that ACC invite. Syracuse by no means was in a voluntary hedging position. Many here I recall were quite concerned about SU's plight if an offer hypothetically never came. There was a lot of debate of who best captured NYC's lucrative TV market, etc. and it wasn't clear it was Syracuse over UConn and or Rutgers. Fortunately, similar as the Colts left Baltimore in the middle of night, we quietly got that ACC lifeline.

Agree to disagree.

We were targeted for inclusion in the ACC for decades before it happened. The only reason it didn't happen decades ago was our extreme loyalty to the conference we founded. We did everything humanly possible to keep it going but when it was clear it was going to die, we left as well.

 

[jgeorge322]

I think a lot of it has to do with playing in a giant barn. You put 16k-20k SU fans in an NBA arena, and the place would be lit.

no, its because like every crowd, team hasn't been exciting in awhile.