After winning the MAAC and advancing to the NCAA Tournament, Siena men's basketball saw head coach Gerry McNamara leave to take the same job with Syracuse. Now, the Saints are zeroing in on his replacement.
Siena is targeting former Washington head coach and Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins to fill their own head coach vacancy, via Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog. While the deal hasn't been made official yet, Hopkins sits at the top of the Saints' wish list.
Currently, Hopkins is an assistant head coach/director of player development with the New Orleans Pelicans. He's been coaching in the NBA since 2024, first as an assistant with the Phoenix Suns. But most of Hopkins' experience comes at the collegiate level.
He began his career at Syracuse in 1995 as an assistant and stayed with the program through 2017. At one point, he was expected to replace the legendary Jim Boeheim once he stepped down. But those plans never came to fruition. Hopkins earned his first head coaching opportunity with Washington men's basketball in 2017.
He was with the Huskies for seven seasons, compiling a 118-10 record. He led Washington to the NCAA Tournament one time and was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year twice. Ultimately though, the pairing came to a close after the 2023-24 season.
Still, Hopkins' efforts as a coach have certainly caught the eye of Siena. The Saints are sure to undergo plenty of changes after seeing McNamara depart. But they still want to be a competitive program in the MAAC. If the Saints' plan comes together, they're hopeful Hopkins is the coach to lead them towards continued success.
