Mike Hopkins to Washington

[Hitman Hart]

Syracuse head coach in-waiting just bolted for Washington

 

[ericd7633]

Wow. That's actually quite stunning IMO. Boeheim wasn't gonna be around much longer I didn't think. Does he have any west coast ties?

 

[Smart]

I completely missed that Romar was fired. I figured it was probably coming with the Cuonzo/Porter dominoes, but it definitely changes the CBB landscape quite a bit.

And as for Hopkins, I'm equally shocked. The University Pres (who I know well as a straight shooter) and AD already had announced it would be his. I wonder if he just thinks Washington is a better job. With that metro area having no other basketball attraction, I'm not sure I would disagree to be honest.

 

[WizardHawk]

I completely missed that Romar was fired. I figured it was probably coming with the Cuonzo/Porter dominoes, but it definitely changes the CBB landscape quite a bit.

And as for Hopkins, I'm equally shocked. The University Pres (who I know well as a straight shooter) and AD already had announced it would be his. I wonder if he just thinks Washington is a better job. With that metro area having no other basketball attraction, I'm not sure I would disagree to be honest.

General feeling is the closer that job came, the more he realized how impossible it is to follow a legend and make your own mark. People who know him and that situation out there say he was looking for something he could build and put his own mark on and obviously he feels Washington is a place he can do so.

Yes, he has ties to the west coast because he's from California and has quite a few connections to coaches and schools down there.

Must have really liked his meeting with AD Cohen and those two got on the same page fast. Romar fired and Hopkins takes the job in less than 4 days. It was a stunning development.