Local coach ready to take on challenge as athletic director

Press Sports Editor
sports@presspublications.com

After leading the Lourdes boys basketball team for the last five seasons, Toledo native Dennis Hopson is looking for a new challenge.
Just a few weeks ago, Hopson, the all-time leading scorer in Ohio State history, left his job at Lourdes University in Sylvania to take on the role of athletic director at his alma mater, Bowsher High School, coming full circle at the age of 59.
Hopson, who had a successful professional career both in the NBA and overseas, won a championship with the Chicago Bulls in 1991 as a teammate of Michal Jordan. Following his playing career, he worked as an assistant under legendary coach Rollie Massimino at Northwood University in Florida and later coached at Bowling Green as an assistant for five years with the late Louis Orr.
“Sometimes, when you journey through life, you know where you started, but when you start moving in different directions, I don’t think you think about returning to where you started. I was never opposed to being in my hometown. This is where it started,” Hopson said. “I guess the biggest thing is the stuff that you never think about. I have an opportunity to be back here in the city of Toledo, and now being back at my former high school, being able to talk to the youth, be around the youth, coach the youth — it’s a blessing and it’s an honor.
“I think this place has potential and talent. It’s just a matter of figuring out what needs to be done to get kids to come to your school and have the right people around them. I think, again, we’re down in numbers a little bit, we have about 700 to 800 kids. If we can keep people in our district coming to our schools, it helps with numbers and sporting events as well. Potential is always there, it’s just a matter of making it happen.”
A job like athletic director can pull an individual in a variety of directions with some days not ending until well into the evening.
“For me, it’s going to be about getting used to dealing with all of the sports, trying to be available for all sports. It’s not just a focus on basketball or scouting reports, watching film or playing games, but you’re coaching multiple programs, and then you’re trying to serve everybody,” said Hopson “You’re going to have some type of event in the evening. Getting home between 9:30 to 10, you get something to eat and get to bed and then do it tomorrow.”
While at Lourdes, Hopson worked hard to recruit in the area, and the first player he brought to Sylvania was Cardinal Stritch alum Little Anderson.
Anderson talked about what Hopson brought to the table.
“The experience level he’s played at and how knowledgeable he is on the game is impressive,” Anderson said. “That’s what stuck out to me after getting to know him. I continued to play at Lourdes because he was a great coach, but an even better mentor and guider.”
In Anderson’s final season with the Wolves, he averaged 14.3 points and 4.5 rebounds.
Anderson’s former teammate in high school, Joey Holifield, left Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan after one season, and transferred to Lourdes in 2022, choosing to play for Hopson when there might’ve been bigger opportunities elsewhere.
Last season, Holifield averaged 17.1 points on 46% shooting from the field and 89% shooting from the free-throw line. He also averaged 6.1 rebounds.
“It was the best because they were high-class kids; they came from a great program at Cardinal Stritch and had a great coach who was at the college level for a long time. He really knew what he was doing,” said Hopson. “As players, the biggest thing is they were great people – they never caused me any problems. They had attitudes – they’re human, but they were very respectful. Little Anderson was my first recruit and was the first person to believe in me as a coach.”
Jamie Kachmarik, who coached Anderson and Holifield in high school, talked about Hopson.
“I think that’s the biggest thing with Dennis is he gave back to Toledo. He coached in high school, then at Lourdes, he was an assistant in college in Division I and II and he played in the NBA and overseas — he has seen basketball at every level,” said Kachmarik, who also coached in the college ranks for many years before returning home. “The knowledge that he gained from being a high-level, high school athlete to playing in college and the NBA and over in Europe, to share that with kids of Northwest Ohio and the state and the colleges he coached, not every kid gets that opportunity to be around someone that has had almost every basketball experience you could.
“He did come back. A lot of guys don’t give back to their hometowns. He’s done things for the youth, for Toledo Public Schools, for Bowsher. His main focus is trying to provide knowledge and wisdom to today’s youth. What he’s done as a coach and player, as a person, what he’s done for the city of Toledo, just giving back to the community is amazing.”
During Hopson’s tenure, he saw the Wolves go 97-41 and qualify for the NAIA Tournament for the final three years of his five-year run as coach.
He won the prestigious Jack Bennett Man of the Year award, which is presented to a non-division I coach who wins with integrity on and off the court.
“I think when I started at Lourdes, I didn’t know what I was going to be embarking on. I heard about the school, but I didn’t know much about the school or the conference. I think I can walk away saying there were some things left on the table. If I had three more wins, I would’ve had 100,” Hopson said. “I would’ve liked to have gone further in the national tournament, been Coach of the Year, won the conference. The last three years, we went to the national tournament, graduated 19-plus kids and had all-conference players. I didn’t have a lot of expectations because I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I think we figured out what we wanted to do as a staff. I think the kids knew what the expectations were of them. I would never trade what we did because who knew we’d go to the top and stay there. Anything can happen. I appreciate my coaching staff, I appreciate the players that came through the system.”