Back in the day, it would have been an easy choice.
These days, not so much, but Flower Mound Marcus running back Stephen Hopkins said the choice to orally commit to Michigan wasn't a hard one at all, as he told The Dallas Morning News.
The first day a Class of 2010 recruit can sign a letter of intent is Feb. 3, 2010.
The chance to play in the "Big House" was just too much, and add to that a coach (Rich Rodriguez) who's produced some quality running backs in recent years at West Virginia, most notably Steve Slaton, who was a standout rookie for the Houston Texans this past season.
Hopkins is an interesting kid, mainly because he is the definition of a workhorse in a power-I running game, and has been for the past two seasons with one more to go at the high school level.
Just check the stats.
As a sophomore at Marcus, Hopkins carried the ball an incredible 343 times for 1,663 yards for an average per carry of 4.8 yards and 16 touchdowns. Last season as a junior, Hopkins opened eyes when he cut his carries dramatically and kept the yards the same, this time going for 1,689 yards on 273 carries for an average of 6.2 yards per carry -- a drastic improvement.
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As long as Rodriguez doesn't totally change his offense, Hopkins would likely a catch a break in Ann Arbor, as the head coach likes a good healthy rotation of runners, including his quarterback.
That would be a good thing for Hopkins. Just take a look at Larry Johnson and how he was used in college and now in the pros. He's already wearing down, and with more teams at the pro and college level going to a running back-by-committee plan, Hopkins could be set for a nice career ahead of him.
Adam Boedeker is a sports writer/blogger for the Denton Record-Chronicle. He's amazed at how quickly you can win and lose money at the craps table.
