Former University of Washington men's basketball coach Mike Hopkins is reportedly a candidate for the same position at mid-major Siena University, as reported by Mark Singelais of the Albany Times Union.

The game of coaching musical chairs is on. Gerry McNamara, who just led Siena to the NCAA Tournament has bolted for Syracuse, leaving the Siena position open. Hopkins had been mentioned as a candidate for the SU job, but they obviously went with the younger McNamara. Both are Syracuse alums and former SU assistants.

Per Singelais:

If Siena wants to go the Syracuse alumni route for a second straight hire, the Saints could look at Hopkins, 56, who played for the Orange from 1989 to 1993 and served as a Jim Boeheim assistant from 1995 to 2017... He has shown the ability to recruit New York and could see Siena as another shot at college head coaching.

As mentioned, Hopkins is a Syracuse grad who played for the legendary 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.

He got the Washington job in 2017, staying for seven seasons.

He's spent the last two campaigns still in the game, working for the Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans.

Hopkins spent those 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.

He was a two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year.

Ultimately, I think Huskies fans will root for Hopkins to get a second chance, especially at a non-rival mid-major. But there are questions about how he'd handle the NIL world and the ever-evolving transfer portal world.

Those two sometimes are even worse at Siena's level, where players are constantly looking to move up to high-major programs where the championship, NBA and revenue opportunities are greater. Player retention is hard.

With McNamara's hiring at Syracuse official, Siena can now put more urgency behind the hiring process. We should learn more in a few days.

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