Much like his older brother, Antoine, Derrick Hopkins enjoyed success on the varsity football level very early on his high school career. The 6-1, 295-pound junior, a defensive tackle and offensive lineman out of Highland Springs (VA), earned second-team all-district honors as a freshman and followed that up by earning first-team all-metro honors at defensive tackle his sophomore year. So far in 2008, the talented prospect is continuing his success.

“It is going great this year,” said Hopkins, who tallied 49 tackles including eight tackles-for-loss last season as a sophomore. “I’ve improved from last year. I worked on my quickness, my hands and my strength.”

Antoine, also a defensive lineman, is currently red-shirting in his freshman year at Virginia Tech. He boasted offers from Tennessee and Virginia before committing to Virginia Tech. Also a target of Division 1A coaches, Derrick is drawing interest from Virginia Tech and a handful of other schools.

“Schools have just been showing interest so far,” Hopkins said. “I have no offers yet, but hopefully they’ll start rolling in soon. Tech has been looking at me. Virginia is showing interest. Oregon has shown interest. LSU has sent me some stuff. Most schools want to see more film of me.”

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