Mike Hopkins has his mojo back.
Admittedly, two straight losing seasons sapped the caffeine-fueled energy of the perpetually effervescent and enthusiastic Washington men’s basketball coach.
It took a respectable 16-14 finish last season, including a fifth-place Pac-12 tie at 11-9 to quiet the “Fire Hopkins” chants and cool the hot seat beneath Hopkins, who enters his sixth season at UW bubbling with optimism.
“We’re on the way up again,” Hopkins said Wednesday during an extensive interview on the eve of the first Husky practice. “You can’t rush the process. Obviously, the COVID year (5-21) was just a disaster. Last year, it didn’t start off like we wanted (5-5 during nonconference games), but you just got to believe in what you’re doing.
“Our system has a proven track record. You got to get the right guys on that roster and then you got to coach them every day with energy and enthusiasm and build their belief. I believe at the end of the year (last season) you could feel something good.”
To be sure, much of the good feeling was generated by senior transfer Terrell Brown Jr. who had a season for the ages while leading the Pac-12 and finishing seventh in the nation in scoring with 21.7 points per game.
Brown is gone along with starters Emmitt Matthews Jr., Daejon Davis and Nate Roberts, which forced Hopkins and the Huskies to restock the roster for the second straight year.
Washington lost seven players and added seven newcomers, including transfers Noah Williams (Washington State), Keion Brooks (Kentucky), Franck Kepnang (Oregon) and Braxton Meah (Fresno State).
Hopkins has a little over a month before the Nov. 1 home exhibition against Division II Alaska Fairbanks to figure out how the newbies will mesh with the six returners.
At first glance, fifth-year senior Jamal Bey will presumably start in a three-guard lineup with senior PJ Fuller and Williams alongside Brooks and Kepnang in the frontcourt.
Senior sharpshooter Cole Bajema will likely provide support in the backcourt while sophomore forward Jackson Grant, senior forward Langtson Wilson and Meah round out a nine-man rotation.
Sophomore forward Samuel Ariyibi, who played just four games last season due in part to a lingering high ankle sprain, remains a bit of mystery and it’s uncertain of freshmen Koren Johnson, Tyler Lindhardt and Keyon Menifield will garner significant roles this season.
The Huskies’ first priority is finding a someone to score and establishing an offensive pecking order.
“We’re going to have to figure that out at practice,” Hopkins said. “Terrell was such a great scorer in so many different ways. I don’t know if we have anybody like that who has the alpha scoring ability. But we have a lot of guys that have scored points.”
The leading candidates are Williams (9.8 career scoring average), Brooks (8.3) and Bey (6.5) considering each has averaged double-digit scoring in a season.
Williams, the former O’Dea High standout who spent the past three seasons at Washington State, averaged a career-high 14.1 points as a sophomore before a dramatic decline to 9.5 points last season.
“(He) has a lot of similarities to (Brown),” Hopkins said. “A transfer who is from Seattle. Noah brings a toughness element like Terrell did. He brings a defensive element. He has great size and length and anticipation skills. If you’re on an opposing team he can make your life miserable and they have a competitive fire.”
Three-point shooting appears to be a potential problem for UW if Bey is unable to perform like he did as a junior when he shot 50.7% (38 of 75) behind the arc. Last season, he nearly doubled his outside shots, but converted just 45 of 143 attempts while shooting 31.5%.
Williams and Fuller are sub-31% 3-point shooters in their careers and Brooks is 23.4%. Bajema who has shot 34.9% on 3s during his two season at UW could prove to be invaluable if he becomes a consistent perimeter threat.
Hopkins believes the new additions vastly improve UW’s beleaguered zone defense that ranked 11th in the Pac-12 in points allowed (72.3) and three-point field goal percentage (33.5).
Kepnang, a 6-foot-11 center, projects to be the Huskies’ best shot-blocking big man since Isaiah Stewart while Williams is an early candidate for Pac-12 All-Defensive team honors and Brooks is an athletic 6-7 wing with big-game experience.
“We’re going to be one of the best defensive teams we’ve ever had since I’ve been here,” Hopkins said. “I think we’ve become older. The transfer portal has helped us. And we’ve become tougher together. I believe we’re on the up.
“What does that mean in terms of where we finish? I don’t know, but the trajectory is going up.”