The Suns have reached a deal with Mike Hopkins to bring the former University of Washington coach aboard as an assistant on Mike Budenholzer‘s staff, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski and Pete Thamel of ESPN.
Hopkins, who played college basketball at Syracuse from 1989-93, rejoined the Orange as an assistant coach in 1995 and spent over two decades in that role, briefly serving as acting head coach during Jim Boeheim‘s nine-game suspension in 2015/16.
In 2017, Hopkins was hired by Washington as the head coach of the school’s men’s basketball team. He earned Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors in his first two seasons on the job (2018 and 2019) and won a regular season conference title in 2019. However, the Huskies announced earlier this year that he wouldn’t be returning for the 2024/25 season after posting a 122-110 (.526) record across his seven years with the program.
As Wojnarowski and Thamel point out, Hopkins has worked with NBA players before, having been involved with the coaching staffs of several Team USA squads over the years.
Since being hired by the Suns last month to replace Frank Vogel, Budenholzer has been slowly building out his staff for his first year in Phoenix. David Fizdale, Vince Legarza, Chad Forcier, and Chaisson Allen are among the other coaches expected to be Suns assistants under Budenholzer.
Be the first to comment