Featured Senior: Kassin Hopkins

What was your most memorable moment throughout your career at Willamette?

Beating George Fox at GFU when they were ranked #9 in the nation.

Describe your feelings when you found out the athletic events were canceled for the remainder of the year.

I have been extremely saddened for my fellow seniors. When the news that spring sports had come to an abrupt end was announced, I was in class with a senior spring sport athlete who immediately broke down into tears. Knowing the feeling of your career coming to an end, I too began to cry as we embraced each other in a long hug. Although it was not decided for me that my season was over, the ending of a sports career is extremely difficult to deal with. The unknown absence of something in your life that weighs on for weeks is unexplainable. You soon find out that you are missing that one thing you have spent your entire life working for.

How have you been handling life in quarantine? Are you home or on campus? What's it like learning online and not being around your teammates?

Online school is terrible. Being confined in a small area with no way out is overwhelming. Without the family interactions from my teammates I feel I am missing a large piece of my college experience. It grieves me to think of the relationships I could have built with my teammates that were not basketball-related that were cut short due to the closure of campus and transition to online classes. These are relationships that I would have wished had the chance to grow outside of the season and off the court.

From their teammates

What was your most memorable moment of Kassin?

Claire Bonnet: Playing her music in the locker room and getting everyone hyped before our games.

Avery Mickelsen: I'll never forget the pre-game jams that Kassin always brought to the team room. She truly is the life of the party, and I will always miss dancing it out with her before practices and games.

How has Kassin impacted you in your sport or in life?

Claire Bonnet: She's taught me that hard work really does pay off, and if you want to be good at something, you have to put in the work and the results will come.

What makes Kassin special?

Claire Bonnet: I think Kassin's work ethic is unmatched. I would always see her getting up extra shots either before or after practice, or in between classes. She led by example and I think this pushed others on our team to want to get better too.

Avery Mickelsen: Kassin is one of those "cool kids." She has so much style, personality, and projected confidence that it can be intimidating to many. However, her kindness, bright spirit, and fun personality is why we all love her dearly. She's a sweetheart and I will miss her very much.

Is there anything Kassin brought to the program that will have a lasting impact?

Claire Bonnet: I think the program will always remember Kassin as a great scorer and shooter. She was never afraid to shoot the ball when she was open and was someone we could count on to score when we had dug ourselves into a hole.

Avery Mickelsen: Kassin brought a confidence to the program that helped us believe in ourselves and our teammates. She's a shooter, and even if she was missing shots one day, everyone still wanted her to shoot -- because we believed in her and she believed in herself.