As a player at Grambling State, Hopkins set an NCAA career record of 3,759 points and has been No. 2 on that list for the past 43 seasons.
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania -- Robert M. "Bob" Hopkins Sr. was a tremendous basketball coach and player. Hopkins, the head basketball coach of Xavier University of Louisiana from 1969-74, died on Friday, May 15, 2015, of heart and kidney disease. He was 80.
Hopkins' Xavier University stint was his longest in 17 seasons as a college head coach — he also worked at Prairie View A&M, Alcorn State, Grambling, Southern and Maryland-Eastern Shore — and it was one of his best. He jump-started an Xavier University program which had resumed in 1967 and produced NAIA District 30 championships and appearances in the NAIA National Championship in 1972 and 1973. His 1972-73 team — led by Donald "Slick" Watts and Bruce Seals, both eventual NBA players — upset top-ranked and unbeaten Sam Houston State 67-60 in the second round of the NAIA's national tournament. Until 2012, the 1972-73 Gold Rush were the only Xavier University team in any sport to reach the NAIA national quarterfinals.
"Once I met the vice president [Anthony Rachal] and president [Dr. Norman C. Francis], I was elated," Hopkins said in November 2013 of his interview with Xavier. "They did everything in their power to enhance the program. They were very supportive. I didn't even have to negotiate with them. We had some great teams at Xavier. We won the City Series. We beat Tulane, a major D-I at the time. You didn't need an airplane and a million dollars a year to make a good program."
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