Last week sophomore Greg Hopkins was selected as the BIG EAST Conference Player of the Week for the second time already this year and he is putting up all-conference numbers.  Greg is hitting .449 with six home runs, eight doubles, 30 RBI, and a .808 slugging percentage. 

Greg is also playing an outstanding third base, diving for balls and always getting dirty.  There isn't a time when I don't see Greg's jersey or uniform dirty at some point during the game.  The attitude that Greg plays began when he was a freshman and he stepped up for our team to play third base and was phenomenal. 

There is one point that stands out to me when looking back on Greg's freshman season.  We were playing Texas in the regional at Rice when G-Hop dove for a ball twice down the third base line and also made a tremendous play leaping up to snag a ball out of the air.  Scott Barnes, a prospect in the San Francisco Giants organization, pitched a tremendous game that day against the Longhorns and was absolutely dominant, but everyone's defense helped us secure the 2-1 win. 

            Greg has started the season out playing hard and swinging the bat well, but the best thing about Greg is that he's one of the guys you can look at and just say he's going to be a major leaguer one day.  He's got all the talent and he's a great teammate.  As Greg keeps up the hard work and hard play, hopefully people start recognizing him as one of the elite third baseman in the country.