Dennis Hopson - Men's Basketball Coach - Bowling Green State University Athletics

Dennis Hopson

Title:
Assistant Men's Basketball Coach
Email:
dhopson@bgsu.edu
Phone:
419-372-7672

Dennis Hopson completed his fourth season as an assistant coach on Louis Orr’s staff at Bowling Green in 2012-13. A Toledo native, Hopson came to Bowling Green after serving as an assistant coach since 2007 under Head Coach Rollie Massimino at Northwood University in West Palm Beach, Fla.

In 2012-13, Bowling Green went 13-19 overall and finished 7-9 in MAC play. The Falcons went 11-5 in the Stroh Center, improving to 23-9 at home in the first two years of the new facility. BGSU defeated Horizon League powers Wright State and Detroit, while pushing Michigan State to the brink, holding a 45-45 tie with 10 minutes remaining in front of a standing-room only crowd of 4,291 at the Stroh Center. The Falcons lost a wild triple overtime game at the BIG EAST’s South Florida and had wins over teams seeded third, fourth and fifth for the MAC Tournament. BGSU was the No. 6 seed for the league tournament but was upset in the opening round.

The 2011-12 team earned a bid to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT), the program’s second postseason appearance in four years. The Falcons had wins over three teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament, beating Detroit, Temple, and Ohio in the first year of the brand-new Stroh Center. BGSU improved its overall win total by two games, going 16-16, and improved by a game in MAC play, finishing 9-7 and earning the sixth seed for the conference tournament. After being upset in the first round of the MAC Tournament, the Falcons were selected to play in the CIT, losing at Oakland University in the postseason opener. In all, the team played seven games against NCAA Tournament teams, posting a respectable 3-4 record against that competition.

Along with posting three home wins over NCAA Tournament teams, the Falcons had some impressive road wins. The team posted a 72-48 win at Western Michigan, the program’s first win in University Arena since 2002. BGSU also won 65-57 at Miami (Ohio), giving the Falcons their first victory in Millett Hall since 2002 and the first season sweep of the RedHawks (winning 56-51 at home) since the 2001-02 campaign.

The 2010-11 team bounced back from a slow start to go 10-3 during a 13-game stretch midway through the season. After losing 9-of-11 to begin the year, the Falcons rebounded to lead the MAC at the midway point of the conference season at 6-2. After splitting a pair of home games, Bowling Green stood at 7-3 in league play, and although the team struggled down the stretch, the Falcons still had a chance to host a MAC Tournament First Round game if they could beat Buffalo in the final regular season basketball game in Anderson Arena history. In front of many of the legendary figures in BGSU basketball history, the Falcons posted a 73-63 victory. The team went on to beat Northern Illinois by 20 points in the first round of the MAC Tournament to qualify for the quarterfinals in Cleveland.

With help from Hopson, the 2009-10 team went 14-16 overall and 6-10 in Mid-American Conference play and had a handful of signature wins. The Falcons defeated both the MAC regular season champions Kent State and the MAC Tournament champions Ohio, as well as beating rival Toledo for the third consecutive season. The win over Kent State was the Golden Flashes’ only home loss to a MAC school and one of just two losses at home on the year. Bowling Green also defeated two Atlantic 10 Conference schools, including St. Louis, one of the top teams in that league and coached by Rick Majerus.

Prior to coming to Bowling Green, Hopson helped Northwood University to back-to-back Florida Sun Conference championships and a combined record of 54-14 from 2007-09. The team advanced to the NAIA National Tournament quarterfinals in 2007-08 and reached the second round in 2008-09.

Hopson had extensive success on the court as a player beginning with his time at Ohio State and continuing through a six-year career in the NBA and seven years in the European Basketball League until retirement in 1999.

He was the NCAA’s second-leading scorer in the 1986-87 season, averaging 29.0 points per game, and is Ohio State’s single season and career scoring leader with 958 points in 1986-87 and 2,096 career points. He was a first-team All-American and was selected third overall in the 1987 NBA draft by the New Jersey Nets. He was traded to the Chicago Bulls for the 1990-91 season and was a member of the team’s first NBA title as a teammate of Michael Jordan. Hopson played for the Sacramento Kings during the 1991-92 season and then played for seven seasons overseas in Spain, France, and Israel.

Following the completion of his playing career, Hopson was an assistant coach with the Rockford Lightning and the Sioux Falls Sky Force in the CBA. He served as an NBA Scout for the Philadelphia 76ers from 2003-04 and held an internship as a varsity basketball assistant at Northland High School in Columbus, Ohio from 2005-06. He was then an assistant coach at Eastmoor Academy High School in Columbus for the 2006-07 season before moving on to an assistant coaching position at Northwood.

Hopson has received plenty of accolades for his basketball prowess and has been enshrined into three Hall of Fames. He is a member of Ohio State's Varsity "O" Hall of Fame, the Bowsher High School Hall of Fame, and the City of Toledo Hall of Fame.