The Longstanding History of UW Basketball Coaching Firings

A dozen games into his fourth season, Mike Hopkins fields light and unobtrusive questions in media sessions that resemble funeral gatherings.

The tone is somber, with no one seemingly wanting to offend the University of Washington basketball coach at a difficult time. Seattle-area reporters actually thank him for participating, as if he's made some great sacrifice to break away during a time of mourning.

Hopkins' program is a mess, closing in on historic proportions.

For the second consecutive season, the Huskies are not competitive. They have dropped into last place of the Pac-12 with a thud. This is where they ended up last year.

If things continue on this downward trend, Hopkins is going to hear a steady stream of questions about his job security up until the moment he has none. A columnist broached this delicate subject for the first time last week.

On Wednesday night, the Huskies (1-11 overall, 0-7 Pac-12) host the Colorado Buffaloes (11-3, 5-2), a team that earlier beat them in Boulder 92-69, at Alaska Airlines Arena at 6 p.m.

The Husky basketball job has never offered anyone a comfortable path to retirement. The previous five coaches — and nine of the past 11 leaders over the past 100 years— were fired. Some were big winners when losing their jobs, too.

Only Tex Winter and Tippy Dye departed on their own volition. Winter beame head coach of the NBA's Houston Rockets after three UW seasons and Dye hired on as the Wichita State athletic director after nine years in Seattle.

What no one has said out loud is Hopkins is surely in trouble job-wise and needs to dig himself out of it. Yet even when he was hired, he was going to be hard-pressed to hang onto this job.

History said so.

For perspective, take a look at the following list and see where his predecessors stood after the first dozen games of their final UW seasons:

Lorenzo Romar (2003-17) — The popular Husky leader stood 7-5 with the eventual No. 1 NBA draft pick Markelle Fultz running his basketball team, which lost 17 of its final 19 games. He's now at Pepperdine for a second stint.

Bob Bender (1994-2002) — Following a couple of NCAA tournament appearances, the program fell off. Bender opened his final season 6-6 before the Huskies went 5-12 to finish. He was never a head coach again, bouncing around the NBA as an assistant.

Lynn Nance (1990-93) — The former Husky forward and FBI agent didn't register a winning season in his four as coach. He was out of time. He was 7-5 in his last season before his team lost 9 of its final 15 games. He later coached a small-college team.

Andy Russo (1996-89) — Russo had his program come apart after two seasons of success. He was 4-8 in his final season at this point and split his final 16 games to finish 12-16. He coached a couple of lower-level college teams before getting out.

Marv Harshman (1972-85) — Harshman clashed with upper campus and this solely led to his ouster following consecutive NCAA appearances. He was 9-3 to begin his final season and finished 22-10. He had other job offers such as Hawaii but he retired. His removal stands as the worst coaching move in school history.

Mac Duckworth (1964-68) — He experienced losing seasons in four of his five years in charge. He began his final season at a respectable 7-5 before losing nine of his final 14 outings. He was never a head coach again.

John Grayson (1960-63) — In his four seasons, the program enjoyed two winning and two break-even records. The former Idaho State head man still was let go after beginning his final season 6-6 and finishing 13-13. He was never a head coach again.

Art McLarney (1948-50) — He supplied two winning seasons out of three, and this included guiding the Huskies' to their second NCAA tourney bid in program annals. However, McLarney had issues with alcohol and this led to his dismissal. He was 11-1 to open his final season but lost nine of his final 17 games.

Hec Edmundson (1921-47) — Similar to Harshman's overthrow, upper campus wanted a new and younger leader and pushed this long-serving coach out of his job. He opened his final season 12-0 before losing eight of his final 12 games. The guy even had the arena named after him. It didn't matter.

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