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Mike Hopkins built UW men into a Pac-12 title contender, but now he has to manage expectations

SAN FRANCISCO – The questions Mike Hopkins and the Washington Huskies received at Thursday’s Pac-12 men’s basketball media day were vastly different from last year.

“Back then everyone wanted to know what’s it like playing for Coach Hop,” said senior guard Matisse Thybulle. “Because it was his first year with us, they wanted to know is he as crazy as he seems. And basically that was it.

“No one really cared about what we thought the season was going to be like. And no one wanted to talk to us about basketball.”

Hopkins added: “They wrote us off last year so there were no basketball-related conversations.