Inside The Huskies

There Are No Excuses For Mike Hopkins In 2023

With the majority of starters announcing their return, it should be tournament or bust

Roman Tomashoff

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If it's not obvious, it's win or else for Mike Hopkins. This was the sense from most before the 2022-23 season started and became  reality when Washington athletic director Jen Cohen placed her faith in her men's basketball coach for another season following the team's first-round exit in the Pac-12 Tournament at the hands of Colorado.

While the 53-69 record in the four seasons following his team's 2019 berth in the NCAA Tournament should have brought his ouster, he had a saving grace. If he were to be fired, Washington would owe him the full remainder of his salary, much like what happened in 2021 when Jimmy Lake's contract was terminated. The school would owe him $3.1 million for the 2023 season, and $3.2 million in 2024, unless he found another job, in which case his salary would be subtracted from the total owed amount.

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Now the majority of Washington's standouts from the 2022 season have announced their return to Montlake, including freshmen guards Koren Johnson and Keyon Menifield, as well as junior centers Braxton Meah and Franck Kepnang. The only person yet to make his decision is senior forward Keion Brooks, who has an extra year of eligibility remaining due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the number of players leaving the program, there should be an influx of talent coming sometime in April and May. Along with that, five-star shooting guard Wesley Yates, who's ranked as the 32nd overall player in the class of 2023 by the 247 Sports Composite, signed with Washington.

The Huskies will also be getting back Kepnang, who missed the majority of the season with an ACL tear, but was playing very well up until that point. If Hopkins can convince Brooks to come back, his team will have plenty of top-end talent to compete in the Pac-12.

However, if he doesn't change his offense, nothing will change in 2023 for Washington. Hopkins' plan in the halfcourt set shows no urgency whatsoever with players constantly standing around and waiting for a high pick and roll with 10 seconds left on the shot clock.

The talent is there, now the coaching just needs to show up. The Lorenzo Romar years showed that Washington can host one of the nation's elite basketball programs under the proper guidance, and this should be Hopkins' last opportunity to right the ship.

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Roman Tomashoff
ROMAN TOMASHOFF

I've followed the Huskies for my entire life, and to be in a position where I get to cover them full-time is nothing short of an honor. After graduating from Lasell University in 2019, I moved to Seattle to pursue my dream of working in sports media. While writing for the Husky Haul, I also covered local sports for the Everett Daily Herald before the COVID-19 pandemic. After being hired by Realdawg.com in February of 2021, I also transitioned into doing a lot of entertainment writing, as I work on a variety of magazines as a contributing writer for Centennial Media, and have also contributed to Emmy Magazine, as well as Walt Disney Television Studios. 

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