The New Orleans Pelicans have signed former University of Washington head coach and longtime Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins as an assistant coach and head of player development. This was originally reported by ESPN's Pete Thamel.
Hopkins was an assistant for Syracuse from 1995 to 2017 and was part of the 2003 National Championship-winning team led by Carmelo Anthony. During his time with the Orange, he worked alongside Pelicans Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations Troy Weaver, who was also an assistant at the time. He then got a head coaching job for the University of Washington from 2017 to 2024. During his time there, he won the Pac-12 Coach of the Year award twice.
Hopkins spent his first season as a coach on an NBA team last season with the Phoenix Suns.
During his nearly 30 years coaching at the collegiate level, Hopkins has been someone who has done an incredible job motivating young men. This is something that is only going to carry over as he now joins the Pelicans on the sideline.
With young talent like Derik Queen, Jeremiah Fears, Micah Peavy, Yves Missi, and Jordan Hawkins, the addition of Hopkins is going to pay dividends. He can use his plethora of coaching experience to develop and get the most out of these young players.
This type of boost to Willie Green's staff is one that will help install a winning culture and set a standard of professionalism typically only found at the college level nowadays. Hopkins isn't going to be the fun, silly assistant coach, but rather someone who's going to be fair and do everything he can to get the most from these young guys.
Troy Weavers finger prints are all over this move
Since coming to the Pelicans, Troy Weaver's fingers have been all over the Pelicans roster makeup. To this point, Weaver has helped bring a ton of DMV hoopers, like Hunter Dickinson, Derik Queen, and Saddiq Bey. While I'm not a fan of Hunter Dickinson and my opinions on Queen are mixed, the addition of Hopkins is in a class of its own.
Even though he has a previous connection to Hopkins, I don't really see that unwavering bias that has been on display with other moves. I view this move as the Pelicans just bringing another weapon to have on the sidelines and maybe another potential successor to Willie Green.
Bringing in Mike Hopkins is a move that should excite Pelicans fans, as he is going to come in and have a huge impact on this young team.