High school career

Born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, 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-overtime. 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 NCAA Division I scholarship offers - Hoppen and Mike Martz to the University of Nebraska, Kerry Trotter to Marquette, Ron Kellogg to Kansas and Bill Jackman became one of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski'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 Omaha World-Herald'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, Missouri, Kansas and Colorado. He ultimately narrowed this down to a decision between Nebraska and Notre Dame. Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps focused his recruiting pitch on his ability to help Hoppen become a first round NBA draft choice, but the Omaha center ultimately chose Nebraska as a school where he could help establish a tradition.

College career

Hoppen arrived at Nebraska 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'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 Big Eight Conference and earning a bid to the 1983 National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Once there, the Huskers defeated Tulane, Iona and TCU to earn a spot in the tournament final four at Madison Square Garden in New York City. However, the team lost their semifinal matchup to Ray Meyer's DePaul team, despite Hoppen scoring 15 points.

Hoppen enjoyed a college rivalry with Creighton center and future NBA player Benoit Benjamin. While McDonald's All-American Benjamin was a much bigger name in national recruiting scene, Hoppen had some of his best games in match-ups against the Omaha school.

College statistics

Season Averages

Season	Team	G	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FG%	FT%
1982-83	Nebraska Cornhuskers	32	25.9	13.9	5.0	1.3	0.5	0.6	.524	.748
1983-84	Nebraska Cornhuskers	30	35.3	19.9	6.9	1.3	0.3	0.6	.599	.760
1984-85	Nebraska Cornhuskers	30	38.5	23.5	8.6	1.3	0.8	0.4	.646	.781
1985-86	Nebraska Cornhuskers	19	35.2	22.1	7.7	1.6	0.7	0.6	.616	.803
Totals:		111	33.4	19.5	7.0	1.3	0.6	0.5	.600	.772

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1987-88	Milwaukee	3	0	11.7	.364	.000	1.000	2.3	0.7	0.0	0.0	3.7
1987-88	Golden State	36	8	16.9	.465	.000	.864	4.6	0.8	0.4	0.2	5.9
1988-89	Charlotte	77	36	18.4	.564	.500	.727	5.0	0.7	0.3	0.3	6.5
1989-90	Charlotte	10	2	13.5	.390	.000	.800	3.6	0.6	0.2	0.1	4.0
1990-91	Charlotte	19	0	5.9	.563	.000	.800	1.6	0.2	0.1	0.1	2.3
1990-91	Philadelphia	11	0	3.9	.500	.000	.667	0.8	0.0	0.1	0.0	1.8
1991-92	Philadelphia	11	0	3.6	.286	.000	.500	0.9	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.8
1992-93	New Jersey	2	0	5.0	1.000	.000	.000	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0
Career		169	46	14.2	.518	.200	.751	3.8	0.6	0.3	0.2	5.0

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1991	Philadelphia	3	0	3.0	1.000	.000	.000	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0

[ Source: Wikipedia ]