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Washington basketball: Mike Hopkins’ bumpy ride as head coach

By Alex Grajeda

Dec 18, 2021; Seattle, Washington, USA; Washington Huskies head coach Mike Hopkins signals for a timeout against the Seattle Redhawks during the first half at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 18, 2021; Seattle, Washington, USA; Washington Huskies head coach Mike Hopkins signals for a timeout against the Seattle Redhawks during the first half at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports /
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When looking at Washington basketball it appears that the talent is there yet they don’t seem to be able to put it together on the court. This begs the question, is Mike Hopkins really the guy?

Jimmy Lake was fired after one and a half seasons at the helm for Washington football, with the first year hampered by COVID-19. Hopkins had successful years in his first two years as a head coach with the UW, finishing 21-13 in year one and then going 27-9 in year two with a PAC-12 championship and a trip to the NCAA tournament.

Since then it has been nothing but struggles. The 2019-2020 season ended with a record of 15-17 while the 2020-2021 season ended with an abysmal 5-21 record.

The 2021-2022 season has started off rocky with more COVID-19 issues and a 5-5 start with some very bad losses. Overall with the Huskies, Hopkins is 73-65 (.529). Not terrible, especially if you throw out the year in which the team went 5-21, but not overly impressive either.

It’s possible that the first two years are keeping the Hopkins ship afloat or it could be from an overall lack of interest in the team. It’s unfortunate but it’s easy to see on social media and with the empty arena on game days. Fans aren’t as outspoken about the performance of basketball as they are with football.

Washington basketball needs to bend, not break

One begins to wonder how much more this program can take. Can they turn it around? Or could this be the last season for Hopkins as the head coach? Of course, the Huskies could play out of their minds for the rest of the season and this article would be completely irrelevant, but the fact is that not many coaches can survive three bad seasons in a row—not when the expectations should be to compete for a conference title and for an NCAA tournament berth every year.

It turns out that the loss to Northern Illinois (3-7) was really bad and the loss to Winthrop (6-6) wasn’t great either. This was followed by a loss to WAC member, Utah Valley. I mentioned in an article before that the UW had to avoid embarrassing losses. You aren’t supposed to lose to teams you pay to come to visit.

The next step for Washington basketball…

UW begins conference play Wednesday night against a solid Washington State team in Pullman as they look to right the ship*. We will see how far Terrell Brown Jr. can take the Huskies and if others can take the next step offensively in order to not have another disappointing season.

*UPDATE: The Washington at Washington State basketball game has been postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the WSU program.

dark. Next. Grading the rest of Washington football’s staff hires

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