By Ed McGranahan.

By Ed McGranahan

Those 20 minutes with Nuk Hopkins were worthwhile as he graciously said farewell to a handful of reporters, far less than typically attend a Clemson media event.

Hopkins apologized, saying he meant no disrespect when he slipped away without a word after Pro Day, and would have been willing to talk after announcing his decision to enter the NFL Draft.

After returning from Charlotte where he went through a workout Monday with the Panthers, he asked Clemson to tell reporters he want to answer their questions.

Ultimately, he said, momentum was too critical to ignore as he weighed his options; to remain and make a run at a bigger prize or seize the future with those golden hands.

“It was my time,” Hopkins said. “I felt like accomplished all that I wanted to accomplish on and off the field.

Hopkins said he began last season intending to be in  position to make this decision.

“Momentum was one of them,” he said. “I’m not going to say it was the main factor but that was one of them.”

Momentum, indeed. Another in an impressive string of players from hometown Daniel High School, Hopkins leaves an unmatched legacy as Clemson’s career leader in receiving yards (3,020) and touchdowns (27). His 18 touchdown receptions set an Atlantic Coast Conference record, and the 82 receptions tied the record set by teammate Sammy Watkins the previous year.

His rivalry with Watkins and the friendship  cultivated during two years together were also factors, he said.

“Coming in here I wanted to be the best wide receiver. Sammy felt the same way, and that was the key part of our success to the season,” he said. “He’s like my little brother. We’ll be in each other’s weddings.”

Hopkins agreed his defining moment was the 27-yard catch on fourth down and 16 to extend the life of the seminal drive in the final 90 seconds of the Chick-fil-A Bowl. “Man, that was incredible,” he said. “I couldn’t have pictured it going out anyway better.”

Watching Chandler Catanzaro kick the winning field goal through tears of joy and prayers of thanks, the emotion poured from him, “Happiness and being able to overcome all the obstacles the past three years.”

LSU safety Eric Reed was covering him.  Coincidentally Hopkins and Reed trained together in Florida for a month. Hopkins said the game barely came up.

The NFL Draft Advisory Board projected Hopkins as a second-round pick – “that, to me, sounds good” – but his stock began to climb on the momentum generated by the bowl game. Hopkins attended the NFL Combine in late February, worked out at Pro Day here last week for scouts from all but one team then visited the Carolina Panthers for an individual workout Monday.

“That play says a lot,” Hopkins said. “That was fourth quarter with a fast-paced offense. That takes endurance to go out there and give your all in the fourth quarter and not give up.

“I feel like NFL teams or GM’s watching that game, it should say a whole lot about who I am as a person.”

After projecting him earlier as a second-rounder, Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN had him as the 27th pick overall this week in a “mock” first round.

“I kind of felt coming out of high school I wasn’t always the five-star person,” Hopkins said. “I feel like I’ve over achieved.

“It’s not going out there and proving people wrong if I go first round. I feel like it’s a personal challenge once you’re doing that.”

Since the bowl game, it’s been non-stop. “I thought it was going to be a chill situation.” Now, other than jetting to private workouts, Hopkins hoped to remain in the area until the draft. As expected, he doesn’t have a preference, “cold weather, warm, I’m a ballplayer

His agent told him to stay off the basketball court, admittedly difficult for a certifiable “gym rat.” Hopkins said he substituted kicking a soccer ball with friends.

If asked he said he probably would not go to New York for the first round.

Though he won’t be a part of the season, Hopkins believes his team Clemson could be “on the verge of something great.”

“I feel like me staying or going we could win a national championship with the guys we have here,” he said.

Hopkins wants his to leave Clemson fans and his teammates with fond memories, as “a very honest person, down to earth, a person who puts his heart into everything.

“(As) somebody that’s determined to succeed in life.”