Commentary: Mike Hopkins’ legacy was complicated, but it was time for Washington to move on

SEATTLE – The nice guy had finished first, the nice guy had finished last and now – at Washington, at least – the nice guy is finished.

The Mike Hopkins era ended (somewhat) abruptly Friday when Washington fired him from his position as men’s basketball coach. The announcement came as the Huskies finished 9-11 in the final season of Pac-12 play, making them 37-61 in the conference over the past four seasons.

Nothing seemed to work for Hopkins after the two-year victory bonanza he spawned upon his arrival in 2017. He took a team that finished 9-22 the previous season and went 21-13 in Year 1. A Pac-12 Coach of the Year award followed. The next year, the Huskies finished 27-9, won the conference, made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years and won their opening game in the Dance.

A Pac-12 Coach of the Year award came once more, as did an eight-figure contract extension.

It seemed a new day had arrived, especially with UW landing Isaiah Stewart and Jaden McDaniels – both of whom were top-10 national recruits – in the same class that offseason. Then, the winning fountain’s plumbing went awry.

Hopkins’ legacy is a complicated one. Despite the early success, I think most Huskies fans would say previous UW athletic director Jen Cohen missed on this hire (and definitely on the extension). Washington isn’t Cal or Washington State, where losing or middling seasons are the norm and NCAA tourney appearances bonuses. Still, there were some ups. Here are a few:

• Hopkins re-recruited Matisse Thybulle, Jaylen Nowell, Noah Dickerson, Dominic Green and David Crisp.

All these guys could have left or, in Nowell’s case, decommitted after Lorenzo Romar was canned in 2017. Hopkins didn’t let that happen. He convinced each one to stay and watched them all blossom into key contributors for a team that snapped UW’s NCAA Tournament drought. You could argue that the loss of any one of them might have tanked their chances of winning the Pac-12.

This was, in part, due to Hopkins’ infectious, eternally optimistic attitude that leaves an impression on just about anyone he meets.

• He helped spark several sellouts in 2018 – and an array of near-capacity crowds, too.

This is no easy task in a town that takes some convincing to fill out arenas after a dry spell. In Seattle, you have to win and win again before a venue becomes standing room only. But UW filled the once planet-sized winter sports void in this city during Hopkins’ second year, and he deserved a good bulk of the credit.

Under the right circumstances, Washington men’s basketball is a big deal – a really big deal. That had ceased being the case under Romar, but Hop temporarily revived the program.

• He snapped the Gonzaga losing streak.

In December 2005, Washington knocked off the Zags 99-95 in Seattle. It wasn’t until December of last year – after seven consecutive Bulldogs victories – that the Huskies again vanquished the perennial powerhouse from the other side of the state.

Gonzaga was ranked seventh at the time (it is 19th now) and had established itself as perhaps the most consistently successful program in the country. But despite trailing by 11 with less than 15 minutes in the game, the Huskies mounted a comeback, took the lead with 3:41 remaining and stunned the Zags at Hec-Ed. It wasn’t a harbinger for Washington, but it might have been Hopkins’ chief accomplishment in his final year.

You can’t say that Hop didn’t get a proper chance to right the ship at Washington. In fact, had his buyout not been as pricey as it was, his ouster might have come much earlier. Five-star recruits would roll in and produce single-digit win totals during conference play. The Huskies finished last in the Pac-12 one season and 11th in another. Overhauls on his coaching staff didn’t amount to much, either.

Ball movement was often lacking. The zone defense Hopkins brought over from Syracuse, where he served as a longtime assistant, did little to suffocate his opponents. Results – both game to game and season to season – became predictable.

Did injuries occur? No doubt. Perhaps a healthy Franck Kepnang – whether it was this season or last – keeps Hopkins afloat. But if your program is dependent on one player, it’s not much of a program.

I’ve expressed this every time I’ve written critically about Hopkins and will do so again now: He is one of the kindest, most sincere, most optimistic coaches in any sport. He never lost his temper with the media, never slighted anyone, never acted the least bit entitled. There are few if anyone who doesn’t wish Mike Hopkins success going forward.

But it was time. It’s been time. Hopkins had his ups, but this team has been down too long for him not to be out.