Mike Hopkins has been the coaching in waiting for a decade, that’s a long time to wait. And it must have been just too long to pass up an opportunity at Washington. Being a head coach at a Power-5 conference team is nothing to sneeze at. Especially in a PAC-12 that has a good top three teams, and not much depth behind it. And don’t forget, Seattle has it’s share of basketball talent that has gone elsewhere recently.

But after 22 years on the SU staff, 10 years of waiting, two officially as the Head Coach-Designate, the timing seems off. Just one year removed from supposedly getting the job at Syracuse, Hopkins leaves to become the head coach elsewhere and start over. It leads to the inevitable “what does he know” questions.

Does Hop think Jim Boeheim is going to try and stick around as long as possible, potentially past next year? Does he think he has been passed over by a new administration to be the next head coach? Or does he really just love the opportunity that has been presented at Washington? I know, the third scenario is a lot less fun.

I do think Hopkins will be a terrific head coach. He paid his dues, he gave his time, he learned under a Hall of Famer and one of the greats in the coaching profession for 22 years, plus four as a player. On top of that, they don’t let just anyone on the bench for Team USA.

As for what this means at SU, everything is up in the air. Sure, Jim Boeheim is supposed to retire after next season, but that plan only worked because there was a sure answer. For as much as people said the succession plan hurt recruiting, the idea that we don’t know what will happen after Jim Boeheim and that there is a definitive end on Jim Boeheim’s tenure is much worse. Now it can legitimately be used against Syracuse that their Hall of Fame head coach is leaving and there is no plan in place.

Where does Syracuse turn? How does this effect the Jim Boeheim plan? Does it get drawn out or does it get accelerated? While Adrian Autry and Gerry McNamara seem like they’ll be head coaches some day, they certainly aren’t ready to take on a program the size of Syracuse.

So now Syracuse is left like every other program in the country, seeking out a standout coach at a mid-major, maybe poach a coach from another Power-5 school like Illinois and Mizzou just did. Either way, we are in for a full-fledged in Syracuse whenever it is that Jim Boeheim leaves.