UW Huskies coach Mike Hopkins on COVID-19, a new offense, Quade Green and more
Washington head coach Mike Hopkins is confident there will be a 2020-21 basketball season.
He has reason to be optimistic lately. On Thursday, as Hopkins met with local media on a video call, the Pac-12 was announcing an agreement with diagnostic test leader Quidel Corp. to implement daily, rapid COVID-19 testing for athletes in close-contact sports. Equipment is expected to be delivered to each Pac-12 school by the end of September.
The conference decided in August to postpone all sports competitions until the end of 2021. But the latest development — called a “game-changer” by commissioner Larry Scott — has the potential to move up that timeline. Scott said he was “hopeful” the new tests could allow for a football season to begin before Jan. 1. That also means Pac-12 basketball teams could start with the rest of the country if the NCAA sets the expected Nov. 25 start date.
Hopkins is attempting to keep his team shielded from these hypothetical scenarios. His philosophy during their offseason workouts has been to control what they can control.
“Just those daily reminders with the guys,” Hopkins said. “Control the day. We’re going to have a season. I really believe that. The key is that when we have the opportunity to have that season or when it starts that we’re ready to do that. Keep them focused on that.”
The Huskies have been holding workouts in different pods during the summer to keep players separated in smaller groups. The pods would lift an hour each day and then work with coaches for 45 minutes on the court.
‘More shots, more routine,” Hopkins said. “Then we were allowed to later have open gym hours for those pods. They would still stay in the pods. It would give them an opportunity to go back and shoot foul shots or have another place to just go. We tried to keep them as routine as possible and have them have options.”
A system change
UW added three new players to its roster this offseason, all transfers with local ties. Erik Stevenson (Timberline) transferred after two seasons at Wichita State, Nate Pryor (West Seattle) joined from North Idaho College and Cole Bajema (Lynden Christian School) left Michigan after one season. While Pryor is immediately eligible, Hopkins had to apply for eligibility waivers for both Stevenson and Bajema. He is still waiting to hear from the NCAA.
The Huskies lost five players from last season’s roster, most notably five-star freshmen Isaiah Stewart and Jaden McDaniels.
The skill sets of the transfers has Hopkins reconsidering his offensive system. Last year, the offense ran mainly through Stewart inside. But the strength of this year’s team is the perimeter. That means a four-guard offense and what Hopkins called “positionless basketball.”
If granted a waiver, Stevenson would be key to the offense. The 6-foot-3 guard averaged 11.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists as a sophomore for the Shockers last season.
“We’ve been messing with a little bit of a different offensive system,” Hopkins said. “ Erik is a guy that, I believe, he’s been a proven guy at the highest level. … A guy who can really, really shoot it. I’m just really bullish about him. Not only as a player, but he’s got a competitive spirit that is elite and I think that rubs off on a lot of people. A toughness, a grittiness that we need.
“Just like the others, (he’s a) guy that’s been a proven scorer. We’re going to have a lot of players out there who are not only play-makers but can really shoot. That’s where you’re going to see a major change, and he fits it perfectly.”
Defensively, Hopkins’ 2-3 zone will remain. Last season, the Huskies occasionally switched to a man-to-man defense. While Hopkins stressed a commitment to the zone, he also said the new personnel could provide more opportunities for playing man.
“With a young team like we had last year with a lot of new faces … there was a learning curve,” Hopkins said. “Whenever you have options, different things to play, you never have full belief in the one thing. First couple of years, there was never an opportunity to play man. … We’re either going to sink or swim. We’re going to get better at it. There’s no other option.”
“I think some of the younger guys — when they were frustrated because the zone is hard to learn and there is a learning curve — said, ‘Well, we should have played more man or we should play man.’ There’s this disconnect with young players.
“I did like the man. I think it could help us. I think this team with the positionless basketball, it could be a big part of what we do. I do believe that if we have belief in both of them that it becomes a really, really positive thing for this team.”
The return of Quade Green
Hopkins told The News Tribune in March that he fully expected point guard Quade Green to be academically eligible for the 2020-21 season. Green was declared academically ineligible in early January last year and missed the remainder of the season.
Asked about Green on Thursday, Hopkins reiterated that Green is “going really good academically.”
“He looks great right now,” Hopkins said. “I’ve been really, really proud of him. Everybody responds differently and the way he responded put huge smiles on our faces. He stepped up. It’s a great thing and he stepped into a leadership role. Really proud of him.”
Losing Green proved to be a devastating blow for the Huskies last season and his return will be crucial to their success. Hopkins shuffle through starting point guards after losing Green, eventually settling on freshman Marcus Tsohonis and using a combination of Tsohonis and Elijah Hardy — he transferred to Portland State this offseason — down the stretch.
UW also added another reinforcement at the position in Pryor.
This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 1:46 PM.
