Former 'Cat Bryce Hopkins Excelling at Providence

After departing from Kentucky following the 2021-2022 season, former four-star forward Bryce Hopkins is excelling in his sophomore season at Providence.

Hopkins continued his early season success in a big way Wednesday night, scoring 27 points, grabbing five rebounds and knocking down 13 of his 15 attempted free throws in Providence’s 73-61 victory over the #4 team in the country, UConn.

Providence's Bryce Hopkins is looking like the leading candidate for Big East POY right now.

Hopkins had 27 to lead the Friars to a win over No. 4 UConn. @BryceHopkins pic.twitter.com/MERiB3w2jR

— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) January 5, 2023

Through 16 games this season, Hopkins is looking like the early favorite for Big East Player of the Year. The Oak Park, IL product is averaging a near double-double with 16.3 PPG and 9.1 RPG. In 28 games played for Kentucky last season, Hopkins averaged a lowly 2.1 PPG and 1.4 RPG. This season has been a major renaissance for B-Hop.

How Did We Get to This Point?

Hopkins committed to the Kentucky basketball program on October 26, 2020. He originally chose Louisville but decommitted amid uncertainty in the then-Chris Mack-led program. Hopkins rounded out a much-needed stellar class for the Wildcats, who were coming off their worst season in the history of the program.

Amid the incoming freshman class of Shaedon Sharpe, TyTy Washington and Daimion Collins, Hopkins was the least heralded of the four. Along with the addition of those four freshmen, Calipari also brought in four immediate impact transfers: CJ Fredrick (Iowa), Sahvir Wheeler (Georgia), Kellan Grady (Davidson), and the eventual National College Basketball Player of the Year, Oscar Tshiebwe (West Virginia). Immediate playing time for Hopkins was going to be an uphill battle.

In Kentucky’s 2021 opener against Duke, Hopkins played only three minutes, failing to record a stat. In non-conference play, Hopkins averaged nearly nine and a half MPG and recorded around 3 PPG. Once SEC play arrived in January, Hopkins’ already slim minutes got slimmer. In their first 12 conference games, Hopkins saw the court for a combined 45 minutes, good for around four minutes per game. Although Coach Calipari repeatedly told the media that “We need him out there”, B-Hop seemingly made his way further and further down the bench.

The LSU Game.

The LSU game was a night of vindication for the freshman forward.

In a game where TyTy Washington and Sahvir Wheeler were unavailable to play, Bryce Hopkins stepped up to provide the Wildcats with a major spark.

After falling behind 36-28 with 17 minutes remaining in the game, Hopkins scored nine of UK’s next 11 points, giving the Wildcats a 39-36 lead after an ‘and one’ that set Rupp Arena ablaze. It had been nearly a month since Hopkins had scored a single point, and he poured in a career-high 13 points to lead the ‘Cats to a gritty 71-66 victory. On ESPN’s broadcast of the game, Karl Ravech dubbed February 23rd, 2022 as “Bryce Hopkins night at Rupp Arena.”

“All I have been talking about is preparing for an opportunity,” Coach Cal said after that game. “You can listen to everybody tell you it is everybody else or the coach, or you can say when I get my chance, I am going to do what the team needs me to do.”

After Hopkins’ big performance, many fans expected a larger role going forward for the 6-6 forward. March was upon us, Sharpe decided he didn’t want to play, and a guy who had been waiting all season for a shot just took and it and ran with it. This however was not the case. B-Hop saw the floor for a combined six minutes in Kentucky’s last two regular-season games, just one minute in Kentucky’s SEC tournament victory over Vanderbilt, and no minutes in their historic NCAA Tournament loss to St. Peter’s.

Hopkins Enters Transfer Portal

Hopkins officially entered the Transfer Portal on April 7th, 2022 and committed to Providence on April 25th. With Daimion Collins and Lance Ware returning to school and five-star forward Chris Livingston on the way, this move was not surprising. Hopkins wasn’t the only transfer off of that roster, as forward Keion Brooks Jr. entered the portal on April 29th and committed to Washington on June 6th. These moves have both obviously worked out well for the two, as Hopkins and Brooks were listed this week on CBS Sports‘ Top 20 transfer contributors so far in the 2022-23 basketball season.

Hopkins scored more points in Providence’s first four games of the season than he did during his entire time at Kentucky, making an immediate statement in the Big East. B-Hop formally introduced himself to the College Basketball world on December 20th after he recorded a staggering 29-point, 23-rebound game in Providence’s 103-98 victory over Marquette. Hopkins’ Wednesday night performance has solidified himself as a major player in the sport and we as fans should love seeing him succeed, although we may wish it was in a Kentucky uniform.