Dennis Hopson
Birthdate: April 22, 1965
Birthplace: Toledo, Ohio
High School: E.L. Bowsher (1984)
College: Ohio State University (1987)
Year Inducted: 2014
You could stump a few people in a trivia contest by asking them to name Ohio State University’s all-time leading scorer in men’s basketball. The answer is: Dennis Hopson.
The 6-foot-5 forward from Toledo averaged 29 points a game in his senior year (1986-87) to finish his career with 2,096 points. He was second in the nation in scoring that year and was named to the Sporting News All-America squad.
Hopson contributed a modest 449 points over his first two seasons at OSU, but he scored 690 as a junior when he averaged 20.9 points. Two factors led to a big senior year for the Toledo Bowsher High School graduate – the arrival of the 3-point goal in college basketball and the arrival of Gary Williams as the Buckeye coach.
Williams installed a running game that was a perfect fit for Hopson’s talent, and Hopson made 67 3-point shots to finish the season with a school-record 958 points.
The New Jersey Nets made him the third overall selection in the 1987 NBA draft. He lasted three seasons with the Nets, leading them in scoring in 1989-90. He played for the NBA champion Chicago Bulls in 1990-91 and the Sacramento Kings in 1991-92 before spending the next eight years playing professionally overseas. Dennis spent five years at an assistant coach for the men’s basketball team at Bowling Green State University.
