2018 guard Hopkins gets full Husker experience on visit
The Nebraska football team held one of its most star-studded recruiting events ever last week with its Friday Night Lights camp, which featured dozens of top-flight recruits with nearly 3,000 fans watching and cheering from the Memorial Stadium stands.
Given the unique spectacle the camp was, it’s no surprise that NU hoops head coach Tim Miles made it a point to capitalize on it as well.
The Huskers had 2018 Midwest City (Okla.) Carl Albert combo guard Trey’von Hopkins in town for an unofficial visit over the weekend.
Along with getting the usual tour of the campus and basketball facilities, the staff made sure to swing by Memorial Stadium on Friday night to give Hopkins a taste of what Nebraska’s fan base was all about.
“It was all a surprise,” Hopkins told HuskerOnline.com. “I was expecting something, but not that much. It was a crazy environment with the fan love. I went to the Friday Night Lights camp, and that was just a camp and there were so many fans there supporting the recruits. I couldn’t imagine what they do for the actual athletes there.”
The 6-foot-4, 180-pound Hopkins first made his way onto Nebraska’s radar when director of basketball operations Teddy Owens - who was filling in on the road as a recruiter prior to the hiring of new full-time assistant Michael Lewis - saw him play this spring on the AAU circuit with his Oklahoma Run PWP program.
An offer from Miles quickly followed, and Hopkins has remained in regular contact with NU’s staff ever since.
“It was really all Teddy Owens,” Hopkins said. “He’s a great recruiter, and he helped work it out to get me up there. When I finally got up there, it was a crazy nice school. They had state-of-the-art facilities - really anything that you could want for your college to be, it was all there. Teddy had been talking to me about that, and when I got up there, I finally realized it was true.”
Hopkins arrived in Lincoln on Friday with his mother and brother, and they toured the Hendricks Center practice facility, Pinnacle Bank Arena, played some pick-up games with current Husker players, and of course checked out the Friday Night Lights camp.
But what stuck with Hopkins as much as anything from his visit were the one-on-one conversations he had with Miles.
“Even over the phone I could tell that he was a great guy and great coach,” Hopkins said. “When I got up there, that’s the type of coach that I’m looking for when I get to college… He was just telling me how he ran his program, what he’s looking for in an athlete and how he felt about me. He really was asking me about how I felt and what I wanted, too, and I really liked that from a coach.”
Along with Nebraska, Hopkins holds offers from Boise State and Tulsa.
However, that list could grow in a hurry, as he’s been getting heavy interest from other high-majors such as Kansas State, UCLA, Arkansas, Creighton, Memphis, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Georgia, Virginia and others.
As a sophomore at Carl Albert last season, Hopkins averaged 24.0 points, 4.5 rebounds a 2.0 assists while playing primarily in the post as a power forward.
He’s been able to play his natural position at guard during the AAU season, though, allowing him to display some of his biggest strengths on the court in his ability to get to the rim and finish and also his improved perimeter shooting.
Looking ahead, Hopkins said he plans to narrow down his list of schools and start taking his official visits next summer after the 2017 AAU season. If all goes as planned, he hopes to be ready to commit and sign during the fall signing period going into his senior year.
“There are only two real priorities for me (in a school),” Hopkins said. “I want a coach who’s open minded and he really likes his players and treats us like family. The other thing is just the culture at the school. If I go there, I want it to feel like another home.”
After his first trip to Lincoln, Hopkins said Nebraska perfectly fits the bill on both of those counts.
“Oh yeah,” he said, “it definitely fits.”