Both Gillespie and John Jancek had been down to Roswell High School to check on Hopper in the recent months and Hopper also visited the Vols last season when he visited Knoxville for the Alabama game. "When I went up there they had a very nice campus, they had a nice tour. The atmosphere was really great and I really liked everyone up there," Hopper said. The versatile defender spent time at both linebacker and defensive end this past season and finished with 113 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, four sacks, two forced fumbles and 12 passes broken up.
Hopper anticipates that he will be back on Rocky Top on March 7 for the Vols' junior day. "They are just really great people up there. They have a great staff and they are very welcoming," Hopper said. "It was pretty huge that Tennessee was my first SEC offer."
Hopper credits his big season and now five offers as payoff for handwork last summer. "I can tackle in space. I need to work on my hips and exploding my hips but I think I can easily fix that," Hopper said. "My coach helped me a lot this past summer with me this past summer with me flipping my hips, working bag drills, cone drills, working in space and my footwork. He helped me a lot this season."
When the decision making process begins, which likely won't happen for some time he said, he already knows what he's looking for. "When it comes down to it I just want to go to a school that really wants me and that I could see myself at and meshing into their program and somewhere with a great atmosphere," Hopper said.
