Now that the Phoenix Suns have Mike Budenholzer in place as their next head coach, they are beginning to build out the rest of the coaching staff. Mike Hopkins is now set to join Phoenix

Hopkins will join Budenholzer's Sun staff as an assistant coach, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Pete Thamel of ESPN. The 54-year-old will make the jump to the professional level after a long tenure as a college coach.

For the last seven seasons, Hopkins coached the University of Washington's men's basketball team, earning a big to the NCAA Tournament in the 2018-19 season and winning the Pac-12 Coach of the Year award in that season and the prior one. The Huskies had winning records four times under Hopkins, won the 2018-19 Pac-12 regular season championship and sent Jaden McDaniels, Matisse Thybulle, Isaiah Stewart and Jaylen Nowell to the NBA.

Hopkins, who was fired by Washington after this past season, also spent 22 years on Syracuse's coaching staff under Jim Boeheim. He will bring a unique perspective to Budeholzer's staff, which also features coaches with years, if not decades, of experience on NBA benches.

Mike Hopkins joins Mike Budenholzer's Suns coaching staff

The Suns let go of Frank Vogel after one season and brought in Budenholzer. Phoenix will look to add a point guard this offseason and have Budenholzer tap into the trio of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. The front office still has other moves to make but Bud's track record of elevating teams leaves some room for optimism.

Chad Forcier, a longtime NBA assistant coach who spent four seasons with Budenholzer on the Milwaukee Bucks and spent last season with the Utah Jazz, and Vince Legarza, who worked in player development for the Atlanta Hawks when Budenholzer was the head coach and was an assistant coach for Bud's last season in Milwaukee, are set to join the Suns' coaching staff. David Fizdale will remain on the staff after joining last season.

After losing in the first round in embarrassing fashion, the Suns hope that Budenholzer can make them a more formidable unit and make them championship contenders instead of just playoff contenders.