In Their Words is a weekly feature appearing Sundays in The Blade's sports section. Blade sports writer Dave Hackenberg talked with Dennis Hopson, who starred at Bowsher High School, and later at Ohio State before playing five years in the NBA.
Dennis Hopson graduated from Bowsher High School in 1983 as the school's career scoring leader despite playing on the varsity team full-time for just two seasons.
He left Ohio State University four years later as that school's all-time leading scorer, as well, with 2,096 points, a record that still stands. He averaged 29 points as a senior and was selected by the Big Ten's coaches and media representatives as the league's player of the year ahead of Indiana's Steve Alford.
But that isn't the best part of this story.
Hopson was drafted No. 3 overall in the first round of the 1987 NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets and played in the league for five years with New Jersey, Chicago and Sacramento. His best season was 1990, his last of three years with the Nets, when he played in 79 games and scored 1,251 points, an average of 15.8 points.
Among his greatest memories was the following season, though, when he averaged 11.9 minutes and scored just 4.3 points, but played for an NBA championship team in Chicago as Michael Jordan's backup.
But that isn't the best part of this story, either.
Neither is the seven years he played pro basketball overseas in three different countries, where he padded considerably the $3.8 million he earned as an NBA player. Nor is it the Powell, Ohio, resident's success as a businessman in the trucking industry as part owner of Circleville Raceway Park, a go-kart race track, or as a land developer.
So, you ask, what is the best part of the story?
On June 11, at age 41 and 19 years removed from when he first left Ohio State, Hopson will take part in OSU commencement exercises and receive his degree in social work.
"IT WILL BE the best feeling I've ever had, even better than the day I was drafted. Money comes and money goes, but I'm about to get something I can take with me to the grave. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am.
"I guess there are three reasons it's so important to me. First, I always promised myself I'd go back and get my degree. Secondly, I have a son, Judere, who is a sophomore at the University of Toledo and I want to graduate before he does. I think it's important that he sees his dad, no matter what my age, back in school and getting my degree. And, third, I'd really like to be a college coach someday and that's difficult without a degree."
"I HAVE DONE some semi-pro coaching and NBA scouting, have worked with some high school teams around Columbus and am involved with an AAU program. I enjoy coaching and think I could offer something at the college level. I think I have a lot of knowledge and could kick some of it back to younger players. You have to teach the game the proper way, starting with fundamentals. A lot of guys today pattern a game after what they see on TV. But you'd better be able to handle the fundamentals before you try the flash.
"I was influenced by some really good coaches. It started with Dick Crowell at Bowsher, then Eldon Miller, who was a solid fundamentals guy, and Gary Williams at Ohio State. The NBA was different. Those coaches had a style of ball I wasn't used to playing.
"Running businesses is fun. I was pretty much self-taught in business and I like doing it. As I said, though, I think there's a lot I can pass along to young basketball players. I'd like to get back to sports and the teaching side."
"I WASN'T TOO surprised when I was traded after my best season with the Nets. I felt I was working my way up to the level I was capable of playing at. But [coach] Bill Fitch and I didn't see eye-to-eye about much. I felt like I was being held back. I guess he thought he punished me with the trade. Maybe he did. Maybe playing behind Michael sent me backwards, as far as my NBA development, because he was such a great player and demanded so much playing time.
"But you know what? I played for the NBA champions. It's something every player dreams of achieving. There have been superstars who left the league without a ring. I don't know as how it bothers some of them. Today, it's all about the money. The only young star out there today with the old-school mentality is LeBron [James]. He just wants to win."
"WHEN I DECIDED to go back to school they told me I was a year and a half away from my degree. It was hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think a lot of people might have said, 'Uh-oh, can't do it.' But now I'm about a month away and it's really something.
"I went to Columbus State, a community college, to get back into it after being away from school for so long. Then I transferred back to Ohio State. The social work major is a continuation of what I'd started years ago. No way could I have started a whole new major. Just having the degree, though, will open some doors to what I'd like to do.
"It's funny. A lot of the professors know who I am, but the kids in my classes are around my son's age. A lot of them were born in '87 when I was leaving Ohio State. Some of them hear I was a basketball player and tell me they're going to Google me to see if I was any good."
Contact Dave Hackenberg at: dhack@theblade.com or 419-724-6398.
First Published April 16, 2006, 2:54 p.m.
