Former Auburn Commit Adam Hopkins Ready to Help 'Rebuild' Colorado Football
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2023 wide receiver signee looks back on decision to commit to Deion Sanders and Colorado football
He wasn't the first and certainly won't be the last, but Adam Hopkins' flip to Colorado football was one of the more notable moves on the recruiting trail for Deion Sanders and the Buffs.
The Peach State prospect, known as one of the top two-way players in the South ala the Colorado head coach in his day, was once committed to Auburn University. The program of course also went through a coaching change following the 2022 season and the Thomasville (Ga.) Thomas County Central standout would return to the open market soon after.
20 days later, he was one of the splash commitments of the Early Signing Period, picking the program without having visited Boulder.
"It was definitely a lot, and a lot of stress on my people and me too," Hopkins told Colorado on Athlon recently. "But God works in mysterious ways, so maybe it wasn't right for me to be (at Auburn), so another opportunity opened for me to pursue and fill in."
Instead of playing in neighboring Alabama, one of Georgia's best is gearing up for Pac-12 country. Hopkins will take an official visit to Boulder this weekend, alongside droves of top underclassmen recruits in the first high-profile junior day weekend in Sanders' tenure.
"Coach Deion, he's a great guy," he said. "Everything is good with him, I like what he's talking about."
Sanders gets credited as the lead on many of the national battles Colorado participates in on the recruiting trail, but the Hopkins recruitment dates back to other coaches working under the new coach at his last stop.
"At Jackson State, there were a few coaches that were already recruiting me," he said. "Coach Deion reached out to me like the third day he was there. I feel good with the coaches I knew, Coach Nick (Williams), Coach Brett (Bartolone), I've known them. So I feel like I know them."
Listed at 6-foot, 175 pounds on the All-America Next Gameday roster, Hopkins worked well at wide receiver all week. While not ready to rule out a two-way identity, there is clearly more comfort working on offense.
"Athlete, but mostly wide receiver," he said of a Colorado position projection. "I've been working at wide receiver my whole life."
In between the upcoming visit and enrolling later this year, Hopkins has big plans for development. Thereafter, it's about helping his college program do what he played a major role within at Thomas County Central.
"Rebuild the program, and I want to be a part of that," Hopkins said. "Because in high school, it wasn't good until my last year. We rebuilt that program.
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