David Dirk Hoppen (born March 13, 1964) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who played in the

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(NBA) and other leagues. Hoppen played

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for the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

, and is the program's all-time leading scorer. He was named All- Big Eight in each of his last three seasons and is generally considered one of the top players in school history. A 6'11" center, Hoppen was selected by the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

in the third round (65th pick overall) of the

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and played six NBA seasons.

High school career

Born and raised in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, Hoppen attended Omaha Benson High School where he was a multi-sport athlete for the "Bunnies". As a junior, Hoppen led the Bunnies to a 21–4 record, averaging 15.8 points and 13.2 rebounds per game and was named first-team all-state. In the postseason, he led Benson to an exciting Nebraska Class A state finals. In the semifinal, the Bunnies outlasted Lincoln High School 64–62 in double-

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. This landed the team in the state final, where they lost a hotly contested game to Creighton Prep, 54–53. Hoppen was named to both the class A and all-class tournament teams. In his senior season, Hoppen was again named first-team all-state after averaging 24.3 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. The Nebraska high school class of 1982 is generally considered one of the best in state history, as the entire starting five accepted

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scholarship offers – Hoppen and Mike Martz to the University of Nebraska, Kerry Trotter to Marquette, Ron Kellogg to

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and Bill Jackman became one of

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coach

Mike Krzyzewski Michael William Krzyzewski ( , ; born February 13, 1947), nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980–81 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, 1980 to 2021� ...

's first recruits (though he later transferred to join Hoppen and Martz with the Cornhuskers). The team was so strong that future NBA player Bart Kofoed was relegated to the second team. On the national AAU circuit, these players formed the nucleus of the "Nebraska Basketball Development Association" team that was strong enough to finish fourth at a Las Vegas tournament. Hoppen's personal legacy as one of the top high school players in state history is shown in his presence on the

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's 2005 list of the top 100 Nebraska athletes and his 1998 induction into the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame. Hoppen was highly recruited, with his finalist list consisting of Nebraska, Notre Dame,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

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, Kansas and

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. He ultimately narrowed this down to a decision between Nebraska and Notre Dame. Notre Dame coach

Digger Phelps Richard Frederick "Digger" Phelps (born July 4, 1941) is an American former college basketball coach, most notably of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 1971 to 1991. For 20 years, from 1993 to 2014, he served as an analyst on ESPN. He got the n ...

focused his recruiting pitch on his ability to help Hoppen become a first round

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choice, but the Omaha center ultimately chose Nebraska as a school where he could help establish a tradition.

College career

Hoppen arrived at the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...

in the Fall of 1982. The 6'11" center was a particularly highly anticipated recruit as the Cornhuskers had gone 16–12 the previous season with no starter taller than 6'6. He immediately entered the starting lineup for coach

Moe Iba Henry W. "Moe" Iba (born May 31, 1939) is an American former basketball coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Memphis State University, now known as the University of Memphis, from 1966 to 1970, Nebraska from 1980 to 1986, and ...

's 1982–83 team, averaging 13.9 points and 5 rebounds per game. The Huskers experienced team success with their new inside presence, finishing tied for third in the

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and earning a bid to the 1983 National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Once there, the Huskers defeated

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and

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to earn a spot in the tournament final four at

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. However, the team lost their semifinal matchup to

Ray Meyer Raymond Joseph Meyer (December 18, 1913 – March 17, 2006) was an American men's collegiate basketball coach from Chicago, Illinois. He was well known for coaching at DePaul University from 1942 to 1984, compiling a 724–354 record. Care ...

's DePaul team, despite Hoppen scoring 15 points. As a sophomore, Hoppen became one of the top players in the

. He was one of only two players in the league (with

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

Wayman Tisdale Wayman Lawrence Tisdale (June 9, 1964 – May 15, 2009) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and a smooth jazz bass guitarist. A three-time All American at the University of Oklahoma,

) to score double-figures in each of his team's games, and was named first-team all-conference. He averaged 19.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, again leading the Cornhuskers to the 1984 NIT. There, Hoppen propelled the Cornhuskers past in-state rival Creighton in the first round by scoring a game-high 25 points, including a basket and a technical

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in the final seconds to seal the 56–54 victory. In the next round, Nebraska lost a close 58–57 contest to Xavier in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, despite Hoppen's game-high 22 points. Hoppen enjoyed a college rivalry with Creighton center and future NBA player Benoit Benjamin. While

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American multinational fast food chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Brothers ...

Benjamin was a much bigger name in national recruiting scene, Hoppen had some of his best games in match-ups against the Omaha school. Though a big man, Hoppen was known as a finesse player with a deft shooting touch. He employed a jump hook and a variety of other offensive weapons in the paint.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1987–88 , style="text-align:left;",

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, 3, , 0, , 11.7 , , .364 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 2.3 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1987–88 , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 36, , 8, , 16.9 , , .465 , , .000 , , .864 , , 4.6 , , 0.8 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 5.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1988–89 , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 77, , 36, , 18.4 , , .564 , , .500 , , .727 , , 5.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 6.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1989–90 , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 10, , 2, , 13.5 , , .390 , , .000 , , .800 , , 3.6 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1990–91 , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 19, , 0, , 5.9 , , .563, , .000 , , .800 , , 1.6 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 2.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1990–91 , style="text-align:left;",

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 11, , 0, , 3.9 , , .500 , , .000 , , .667 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 1.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1991–92 , style="text-align:left;",

, 11, , 0, , 3.6 , , .286 , , .000 , , .500 , , 0.9 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1992–93 , style="text-align:left;",

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, 2, , 0, , 5.0 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , - , -class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 169, , 46, , 14.2 , , .518 , , .200 , , .751, , 3.8, , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 5.0

Playoffs

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1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

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College

References

External links

Dave Hoppen NBA statistics
@ NBA.com
Italian League statsNebraska Cornhuskers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoppen, Dave 1964 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks draft picks Basketball players from Omaha, Nebraska Basket Rimini Crabs players Centers (basketball) Charlotte Hornets expansion draft picks Charlotte Hornets players Fargo-Moorhead Fever players Golden State Warriors players Milwaukee Bucks players Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball players New Jersey Nets players Philadelphia 76ers players Rapid City Thrillers players Topeka Sizzlers players Summer World University Games medalists in basketball FISU World University Games silver medalists for the United States 20th-century American sportsmen