[2] The All-American and 1987 Big Ten Conference Player of the Year was selected as the third overall pick in the 1987 NBA draft by the New Jersey Nets, playing a total of five seasons in the league.

A six-foot five-inch (1.96 m) shooting guard and small forward, Dennis Hopson was a standout at Toledo's Bowsher High School[3] before enrolling at Ohio State University.

[1][3] The star Buckeye swingman entered a new phase in his game when the school installed Gary Williams as their new head coach in 1986.

[3] Hopson's gifted jump shot[3] and extraordinary scoring abilities placed him as the second leading scorer in Division I during the 1986–87 season[1] and earned him the 1987 Big Ten Player of the Year award.

Hopson ventured overseas after departing from the NBA in 1992, stopping first in the Spanish Liga ACB before heading north to France two years later.

[7] The following season Hopson reunited with former college teammate Brad Sellers as members of Israel's Maccabi Rishon Lezion basketball club.

[11] However it wasn't long before Hopson returned to the game, assuming the duties as head coach of the ABA's Toledo Royal Knights until the team folded in December 2006.