After being out of the college game for the last two seasons, former University of Washington men's basketball coach Mike Hopkins is drawing interest again as the next hiring cycle approaches.

According to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, Hopkins is in the mix for the job at Syracuse University, which just fired head coach Adrian Autry after three seasons on Wednesday morning. The Orange went 15-17 and were eliminated in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament on Tuesday.

SU has already done some diligence on candidates. Unclear how fast this search will go. Names already under consideration, per sources: Josh Schertz, Bryan Hodgson, Luke Murray, Joe Gallo and two Cuse guys—Mike Hopkins + Gerry McNamara, who will be coaching Siena in the NCAAs.

First off, Hopkins is a Syracuse grad who played for legendary head coach Jim Boeheim (1989-93). Billed as the 'Coach of the Future' for the Orange, his time never came because Boeheim didn't step down until after the 2022-23 season. Hopkins joined the Syracuse staff in 1995 and stayed through the end of the 2016-17 season.

It all lines up for him to be a strong candidate. He understands the program, its history, the fanbase, the expectations, and the university. He should have a good relationship with alumni and has more than 20 years under his belt on staff already.

Furthermore, he's spent the last two seasons still in the game, working for the Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans.

After leaving Syracuse, Hopkins got hired at Washington in 2017. He spent seven years in Seattle, getting let go right before the program joined the Big Ten Conference.

He went 21-13 in his first season, getting ranked as high as No. 25 in the nation before going 27-9 and reaching No. 20 in year two. That Huskies team (2018-19) advanced to the NCAA Tournament, losing in the second round.

It was mostly downhill for Hopkins after that, as he went 15-17 in 2019-20 and 5-21 in the COVID impacted 2020-21 season. He hung on for three more seasons, going 50-46 but never made another NCAA Tournament. He went 17-15, 16-16 and 17-15 in those three seasons.

In total, he went 118-106 and earned two Pac-12 Coach of the Year awards.

The program hired Danny Sprinkle in 2024-25, and he's gone 13-18 and 15-16 since getting hired. Washington finished 12th in the Big Ten standings this season and earned the No. 12 seed in the league tournament.

Previous record aside, all that really matters anymore is: Can you recruit and win in the era of NIL and the transfer portal? It's a different world than the one Hopkins left even two years ago.

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