Former Abilene Wylie great Lopez joins Hopper on Lady Bulldogs' basketball staff

Duane Hopper and Mike Lopez made for a potent combination playing basketball together for the Wylie boys basketball team. Now, they’ll get a chance to team up once again at Wylie – this time as coaches for the girls basketball team.

Lopez, a 2014 Wylie graduate, will serve as Hopper’s assistant coach after a year as an assistant at Nacogdoches Central Heights.

It will be the first time they’ve shared the court together since leading the Wylie boys basketball team to the Class 3A state semifinals in 2013.

They were district co-MVPs in 2013, and both were first-team All-Big Country selections by the Reporter-News that year. Hopper was the ARN’s MVP in 2013, while Lopez garnered the same honor in 2014.

Lopez never thought he would be returning to Wylie as a coach, much less a girls coach.

“I did not think that would happen. That was a little twist,” Lopez said about joining the Lady Bulldogs’ program. “But the opportunity presented itself, and Duane asked me. It’s better for me and my family. I think this will be best for me. It’s different though. It’s going to be different coaching girls. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Hopper is thrilled to team up with his longtime friend once again.

“It’s awesome,” Hopper said. “He’s one of my best friends growing up and one of the best teammates I’ve ever had. Now we get to work on the same team again.”

Hopper, a 2013 Wylie grad, was named the Lady Bulldogs’ head coach in early May after compiling a 133-40 record in five seasons with the Hermleigh girls basketball team.

He soon called Lopez about joining his staff. It took some cajoling by Hopper to lure him to Wylie.

“At first, he wasn’t interested, but I was persistent,” Hopper said. “So was his family, because his family wanted him back home.”

Opportunity knocks

Lopez already had some tough choices before Hopper called. He had finished his first season as an assistant with the Central Heights boys, who went 22-14 after falling to eventual state semifinalist Hitchcock 65-43 in the second round of the Region III-3A playoffs.

The Blue Devils, who have two state tournaments appearances (1983 and 2000), appeared poised for another good run next season.

“He definitely had to convince me a little bit,” Lopez said. “It ended up working, but it was hard to leave Central Heights. We had some guys coming back. Coach (Kevin) Herron, who is the head coach over there, he was a great guy and one of my mentors. He’s like family. He’s one of my best friends in the business.”

Lopez, a grad assistant at Angelo State for two seasons before taking the Central Heights job, also had offers to work at the college level, including Chipola College in Marianna, Florida, which is coached by Donnie Tyndall, who once coached at Tennessee.

Chipola (30-6) reached the NJCAA national semifinals for the second straight year last season.

It helped that former Wylie great Peyton Decker, another good friend of Lopez, also helped convince him to take the job.

Decker asked him if he would join the staff as soon as Hopper got the job.

“She was like, ‘Are you going to go with him,’” Lopez said. “I was like, ‘I have no idea. I’m really not too fond of coaching girls. I want to stay on the guys side.’

"But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was a great opportunity and I couldn’t pass it up. Once I told her, she was ecstatic for me and Duane. She said we’ll take it the program back to where it used to be and where it needs to be.”

Hopper and Lopez take over a Wylie girls basketball program that has 11 state tournament appearances – the last in 2016. The Lady Bulldogs had three consecutive state final appearances (2010-12), winning the last two. Decker, whose maiden name is Little, played on all three teams. Wylie also won state in 1970 and 1990, while reaching the title game in 2001 and 2006.

Since reaching the region finals the program’s last year in Class 4A in 2018, Wylie has bowed out in the first round of the postseason every year in 5A.

In that same five-year span, Hopper led Class 1A Hermleigh to five region tournament appearances. The Lady Cardinals reached the state tournament his first two seasons.

“I definitely was not surprise that he’s had as much success as he’s had,” Lopez said about Hopper. “He’s a great leader, a great coach and just a great guy off the floor. He can relate to the kids. He’s a good dude.”

Back where it all started

Lopez, a three-time all-state guard, played one season at Texas-Rio Grande Valley after graduating from Wylie. He also played at Midwestern State (2015-17).

He has known Hopper since the two played on a travel team when Lopez was in eighth grade and Hopper was a freshman at Wylie. Lopez’s dad coached the team.

Lopez averaged 14.5 points, 4.5 assists and 2.6 steals his junior year, while fellow guard Hopper averaged 12.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.8 steals that same season in leading Wylie (34-5) to the state semifinals.

Lopez averaged 20 points, six assists, four rebounds and 3.5 steals his senior year, shooting 46% from 3-point range. The Bulldogs reached the region semifinals that last year with the Bulldogs.

Wylie was 111-26 during Lopez’s four years with the program, including 88-17 as the team’s starting point guard the last three seasons.

“We won a lot of games together playing,” Hopper said. “Hopefully, we can win some coaching.”

Joey D. Richards covers Abilene high schools and colleges, Big Country schools and other local sports. Follow him at Twitter at ARN_Joey. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Former Abilene Wylie star reunites with Hopper on Lady Bulldogs' staff