Inside the Loud House
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Who is the Syracuse Orange ‘Person of the Year’?

By Kevin Weinheimer

HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 31: National Collegiate Athletic Association President Mark Emmert speaks during a press conference prior to the 2016 NCAA Men's Final Four at NRG Stadium on March 31, 2016 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 31: National Collegiate Athletic Association President Mark Emmert speaks during a press conference prior to the 2016 NCAA Men's Final Four at NRG Stadium on March 31, 2016 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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Mike Hopkins

To me this is the obvious front-runner. Coach Hop had been in the news in recent seasons already with the “planned” retirement of Jim Boeheim rapidly approaching. For years, the head job was Hopkins’ as soon as Jimmy B finished coaching his final game. This was always the plan with little to no deviance from it. Every offseason, a major college program would come calling, and Hop would turn it down and focus on his next season for the Orange.

So it was a complete surprise when the Syracuse Basketball community was collectively turned upside down when the longtime assistant said he was leaving the program to become the Head Coach of the Washington Huskies. This sparked a larger conversation as to who should succeed Jim Boeheim following his retirement.

Hop is coming off of a huge upset win with his Huskies over Kansas, and his successes at Washington will continue the debate for years to come on if the program handled him correctly during his tenure at Syracuse. It seems pretty clear to me that once Hopkins realized the clock was no longer ticking towards Boeheim’s retirement that it was only a matter of time before he took an opportunity elsewhere.

While his departure has been debated as both a good and a bad thing for Syracuse, it undoubtedly dominated the headlines when the story broke and will continue to be a story line going forward in 2018 and beyond. Syracuse Basketball makes headlines, so a departure from the program will always have a big impact in the media.

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