Washington Basketball had a great first year under Mike Hopkins. Will the Huskies take the next step and make the NCAA Tournament this season?
After going 9-22 (2-16) in another down season under Lorenzo Romar, the Washington Basketball program decided to make a change in command. They went with Mike Hopkins, a former Syracuse Assistant who some thought was the heir apparent for Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim.
He chooses instead to go out west and inherit a Huskies team who outside of top pick Markelle Fultz all returned. The expectations were relatively low but the hope at least was that the dreadful defensive woes would be fixed to make them more competitive.
That appeared to happen after the low point for the Huskies in the non-conference when they gave up 103 points in a loss to Virginia Tech, as well getting blitzed at home to rival Gonzaga. The team improved on that end in Pac-12 play, gaining back-to-back wins against Arizona and Arizona State, which briefly put Washington back into the bubble picture.
It didn’t last long after that, with the team going 4-7 in their final 11 games to end the season. But an 11-win (eight in Pac-12) improvement from the year prior is still an impressive feat for both Hopkins and the program.
There are a ton of high hopes and expectations for Washington this upcoming season. The team’s eight top scorers all come back, along with a top-40 overall recruiting class. With just role players Carlos Johnson and Michael Carter III not around, the bulk of the production is all back for another year. Can the Huskies continue to climb to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in nearly a decade?