Lotta chatter on the boards these days about a behind the scenes deal between Coach Boeheim, Assistant Coach Mike Hopkins and Syracuse for Hopkins to take over as head coach once Jimmy retires, which may be sooner than we'd all like to think.
Some say Jimmy would like to go out an Olympic gold medalist. Some say he's got two, maybe three years left in him. Others say he's got another five at least and don't be surprised to still see him roaming the sidelines even longer than that.
If you're not familiar with Hopkins, you should be. A guard for the Orange from '89 - '93, he started two seasons and was team captain senior year. After graduating, Hopkins returned as an assitant coach in 1996 where he helped mold the careers of Jason Hart, Allen Griffin and Gerry McNamara. He's become one of the top recruiters for the Orange, helping land Scoop Jardine and Rick Jackson amongst others.
Doesn't all this sound familiar? A guy who goes to SU and plays ball, graduates and returns, works his way up the coaching staff, proves that he bleeds orange for the program and eventually takes over?
It remains to be seen how much truth there is to all of this. There have been many successors to Boeheim over the years and he's still going, with no visible signs of letting down. Hopkins sounds like a good guy but I don't think anyone's ready to push Jimmy out the door anytime soon.
Some say Jimmy would like to go out an Olympic gold medalist. Some say he's got two, maybe three years left in him. Others say he's got another five at least and don't be surprised to still see him roaming the sidelines even longer than that.If you're not familiar with Hopkins, you should be. A guard for the Orange from '89 - '93, he started two seasons and was team captain senior year. After graduating, Hopkins returned as an assitant coach in 1996 where he helped mold the careers of Jason Hart, Allen Griffin and Gerry McNamara. He's become one of the top recruiters for the Orange, helping land Scoop Jardine and Rick Jackson amongst others.
Doesn't all this sound familiar? A guy who goes to SU and plays ball, graduates and returns, works his way up the coaching staff, proves that he bleeds orange for the program and eventually takes over?
It remains to be seen how much truth there is to all of this. There have been many successors to Boeheim over the years and he's still going, with no visible signs of letting down. Hopkins sounds like a good guy but I don't think anyone's ready to push Jimmy out the door anytime soon.