Mike Hopkins opens seventh season as UW men’s coach, again on hot seat

Last March, Mike Hopkins received a reprieve when former Washington athletic director Jen Cohen brought him back to coach the Husky men’s basketball team.

While describing last season’s 16-16 campaign and eighth-place tie in the Pac-12, Cohen used the word “disappointed” three times in the first paragraph of a statement to The Seattle Times.

“After completing a postseason review of the program and after several in-depth discussions with Coach Hopkins, I am hopeful that next season will once again see the Huskies competing for a Pac-12 championship and back in the NCAA tournament,” she said. “Coach Hopkins understands our expectations and is committed to make any and all necessary changes to get us there.”

Many Husky fans believe Cohen’s commitment to Hopkins was financially motivated by her unwillingness or the inability of the Husky athletic department to fire Hopkins and pay him the remaining two years and $6.3 million on his contract.

Fast forward eight months and once again Hopkins is sitting on the proverbial hot seat as he enters his seventh season at the helm of UW basketball, which begins at 8:30 p.m. Monday with a nonconference matchup against Bellarmine at Alaska Airlines Arena.

Cohen, who hired Hopkins in 2017 and gave him a six-year, $17.5 million contract extension in 2019, moved to Los Angeles to take the AD job at Pac-12 rival USC.

Hopkins has yet to have any substantial talks about the UW men’s basketball program or his future with new Husky AD Troy Dannen since he took over last month.

Seemingly, it’s an NCAA tournament-or-bust ultimatum for Hopkins, who made his only Big Dance appearance with the Huskies in 2019.

“You know what? Every year you’re being judged and every year could be your last,” said Hopkins, who has a 53-69 record the past four seasons after compiling a 48-22 record in the first two seasons. “I understand the business we’re in. I really do. It just goes back to what, control what you can control. Just gotta do the best you can.

“I love the fact that they believed in me enough to bring us back and we got a group of guys. We think we’ve put together a great team and a great combination of players. The standard is to win the Pac-12 and to be in the NCAA tournament. That’s the only way you have a chance to get a national championship. You gotta get in that tournament. That’s our goal and that’s our goal every year. We’ve been obviously short, but believe we got a chance.”

Theoretically, Hopkins has assembled his best team since guiding the Huskies to the 2018-19 Pac-12 regular-season title and advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

For the third straight year, Washington has revamped the roster with at least seven newcomers. This time Hopkins believes he was more intentional about how the eight newcomers will fit with the five holdovers.

Hopkins also made sure to bolster the depth with veterans — an oversight that hurt the injury-riddled Huskies last season when they were forced to rely heavily on first-year players.

If last week’s 103-58 exhibition win over Division II Saint Martin’s is any indication, Washington appears to have two experienced playmakers (Sahvir Wheeler and Paul Mulcahy), two potentially high-scoring wings (Keion Brooks Jr. and Moses Wood) and two returning big men (Braxton Meah and Franck Kepnang) with promise.

The Huskies also have two potent and young scoring options off the bench (Koren Johnson and Nate Calmese), two experienced and defensive-minded reserves (Wilhelm Breidenbach and Anthony Holland) and two high-profile freshmen (Wesley Yates III and Christian King).

“Kinda, a little bit like Noah and his ark,” Hopkins joked. “Look, here’s the thing. In the six years that we’ve been here, there’s been a lot of lessons learned. … We’ve had really good teams, but I don’t necessarily think we’ve had the right combination of players from shooting and skill and all those different things.

“For instance, we came away from last season and knew we needed better ball handling. So, let’s go find some true point guards rather than making some guards that aren’t your point guards into point guards. Those are lessons learned that I think we capitalized on. We built this team rather than put together a collection of talent.”

At 54, Hopkins is still the energetic and eternal optimist who impressed Cohen by doing pushups during their initial interview. However, he admits the past few years have been challenging.

“I’ve always been very present and focused on the process,” he said. “But more than anything, I think I’ve learned to delegate more.”

Case in point, Hopkins ditched his cherished 2-3 zone defense that followed him from Syracuse and brought in Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown for eight weeks this summer to teach the Huskies his trademark man-to-man defensive schemes.

The 83-year-old Brown considered joining UW’s staff, but will serve as a consultant this season.

“It’s never been about me and it’s always what’s best for this team and how can we win games,” Hopkins said. “So, am I willing to change? Heck yeah. I’ve changed. You’re constantly evolving and adapting. You have to, especially as we try to navigate this new world (of college basketball) with NIL and the portal and now (conference) realignment.

“I’ve lost more hair and got a few less states on the map. … Other than that, as a person, I am who I am. I’ve never tried to be somebody I’m not. I love people. I love coaching. I love representing the University of Washington and being their coach. I take a lot of pride in trying to get it right and giving Husky fans something to really cheer about and be proud of.”