Scout.Com Reports Hopkins Bringing Cameron Dollar Back To Washington Huskies

As Coach Hopkins Solidifies His Coaching Staff, Scout.com Reports Former UW Assistant Cameron Dollar Set to Return To Washington Huskies

Scout.com reports that the University of Washington Huskies Men’s Basketball team is about to hire former UW assistant coach Cameron Dollar on March 25, 2017.  The Washington Huskies Men’s Basketball new Head Coach Mike Hopkins has plenty on his plate. He’s just taken over a Div I program located on the other side of the country. He’s just lost the nation’s top rated player in Michael Porter Jr. to the University of Missouri.

Even his players are defecting from the team before he has the chance to work with them. He was even turned down by long time friend Jason Hart at an opportunity to come work with him as an assistant coach.  The plan was for Jason Hart, Tim O’Toole, and Will Conroy to join Mike Hopkins at University of Washington.

And then, Jason Hart had time to change his mind.

And right on cue, he did. Jason Hart’s rejection leaves a hole in the Hopkins coaching staff. So who could he tap to bring to the program? And does this mean that Tim O’Toole will pass over the opportunity to join Hopkins at the University of Washington Huskies?

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Lemons? Make Lemonaid

The new head coach needs some positives.  Some “newsworthy” event which would spin the perception from loss to gain.  Today, such news may be forthcoming.

Mike Hopkins has done his homework. Cameron Dollar would be an incredible addition to Mike Hopkins coaching staff.  Let’s review the career of Dollar.

Cameron Dollar Former University of Washington Huskies Coach

Cameron Dollar was hired as an assistant coach by former University of Washington Huskies head coach Lorenzo Romar. As a matter of fact, he actually followed Romar from the University of Saint Louis to Washington. He remained with Romar from 2002-2009, and helped him establish the University of Washington Huskies as competitors in the NCAA Tournament.

Inside the Loud House

In fact, the combination of Romar and Dollar were very good for the Huskies. They appeared in the NCAA tournament in four of their seven years coaching together, and had winning records in all but their first year together.

Hot Prospect, Cool Results

Dollar was a hot coaching prospect as Lorenzo Romar’s assistant. He was a finalist in the head coaching position of Long Beach State in 2007 and at Sacramento State in 2008 before landing the head coaching role for Seattle University in 2009.

At Seattle University, he brought the program up from nothing, earning a 107-138 record over his time at Seattle.  But in an article from herosports.com Amaar Abdul-Nassir, Dollar was making progress in an extremely challenging position.  Abdul-Nassir comes right out to state the firing of Dollar was the wrong move.

Seattle University’s loss could prove to be the University of Washington Huskies’ gain.

Recruiting is Key

So why Dollar?  Well, the strength of Jason Hart was his recruiting in the PAC-12 and in the California region specifically.  The retention of Will Conroy is a wise move, and will help to maintain strong connections to the state of Washington.

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Still, there is a much stronger recruiting in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest with Cameron Dollar on the staff. Since he was an assistant coach for seven years under Romar, his inroads are likely viewed as the equivalent to Romar’s.  Conroy, conversely, is more in tune with the recent history of the team.

Tim The Tool Man

Finally, Tim O’Toole must now determine his next move. The University of California promoted assistant coach Wyking Jones to the head coaching role. It was a firing of California’s assistant coach Yann Hufnagle which created an opportunity for O’Toole.  O’Toole was under siege as his then head coach Johnny Dawkins was fired by Stanford. O’Toole knew a new head coach would want his guys as assistants.

Now, O’Toole faces the same “new head coach” dilemma. On one hand, does he stick it out with new head coach and hope it works out with Wyking Jones? On the other hand, does he take the initiative and accept the Washington Huskies offer to coach with Mike Hopkins?

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And so, if O’Toole does not join the staff, Hopkins will need to head back to the drawing board.  We’ll know more when contracts are signed.