DRC: Story on "Hop"

[SUMG]

When Leonard Hopkins joined the North Texas men’s basketball team more than four years ago, he set out a simple goal.

Some how, some way, he wanted to be remembered long after he hit his last jump shot in The Super Pit.

“It has always been my goal to leave my mark on North Texas in any way I can, whether it be helping the team win more games, do well in conference or get into the NCAA Tournament,” Hopkins said.

The former Dallas Lincoln standout can ensure his legacy at 7 p.m. tonight when the Mean Green take on Southeast Missouri State in a home game.

Hopkins enters the game just 27 points short of reaching the 1,000-point mark, a milestone only 15 other players have attained in the history of UNT’s program, which first fielded a team in 1916.

“At any level you are playing at, it’s huge to have a chance to score 1,000 points,” UNT coach Johnny Jones said. “When you are playing at a Division I program, facing the quality of competition Leonard has faced, it’s a big accomplishment.”

Hopkins is ready to crash the barrier, despite a series of setbacks that have included a pair of season-ending injuries that have hampered his progress since high school. UNT’s starting shooting guard played just two full seasons in his first four years at UNT because of injuries and has filed an appeal with the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility.

Hopkins’ full abilities have begun to show during his senior year when he has been at full strength.

He enters UNT’s game against Southeast ranked fifth in the Sun Belt Conference with an average of 17.6 points per game. Hopkins has scored in double figures in every game this season and has reached the 20-point mark three times.

The surge is one he attributes to being healthy and in shape for one of the first times in his career.

“I feel like I am playing the best basketball of my career,” Hopkins said. “My body is where I want it to be. I am in the best shape I have been in. My weight is where I want it, and my hops are back.”

Hopkins’ determination has made an impression on teammates who saw him put in the necessary extra work outside of practice to recover from injuries that could have derailed his career. He missed his entire junior and senior years of basketball at Lincoln while recovering from a broken leg. The same injury forced him to take a redshirt year as a freshman at UNT in 2000-01.

Hopkins came back to play as a redshirt freshman, but participated in just nine games as a sophomore before a foot injury kept him out of the rest of the 2002-03 season. The same injury made it tough for him to prepare for the 2003-04 season.

“There were times when I felt like giving up,” Hopkins said. “I had a lot of injuries to deal with, but I kept my faith in God and worked hard.”

That work has paid off this season in which Hopkins has benefited from playing in the second of back-to-back full seasons for the first time in his collegiate career.

The way Hopkins worked to take advantage of that opportunity made an impression on his teammates and Jones.

“Leonard does not give up,” UNT junior center Justin Barnett said. “He had to sit out two years of high school and had to sit his first year here. He was out of basketball three or four years. For him to stick with it long enough to keep going, show everyone he could do it and excel is a huge statement about what kind of person he is.”

The success Hopkins has enjoyed this season has helped UNT get off to a 5-3 start that ranks as its best since the 1994-95 season. The performance is one the Mean Green hope to build on in today’s game against Southeast (3-5).

Former Fort Worth Paschal standout Dainmon Gonner is averaging 20.8 points a game to lead Southeast, which rallied from an 11-point deficit at halftime to beat UNT in Gape Girardeau, Mo., last season.

“Southeast is a very good team,” Jones said. “They run a lot of motion and have been very difficult to play in the past. We found that out firsthand last year.”

The challenge is one UNT feels better prepared to face with Hopkins at full strength.

“Leonard is playing the best he has in his career,” Jones said. “He is not only playing well on the offensive end, he has gotten considerably better defensively and his understanding of how to play is continuing to get better. That is because he has been on the floor and been able to worry about basketball instead of rehab.”

[BleedGreen]

We are very lucky to have Leonard Hopkins at UNT. It would be great to have him back for another year.

At the Southern game, I was telling a fan, "Leonard doesn't dunk anymore. He has no ups because of his leg injuries."

Then, early in the second half, Leonard Hopkins had one of the most spectacular dunks I've ever seen at UNT. It made me eat my words, but it was definitely worth it. I couldn't believe my eyes. I just stood up with mouth wide open, and then sat and inserted foot. It was great.