John Calipari added long-term potential to the University of Kentucky men’s basketball program when Jacob Toppin committed to Kentucky Thursday.
Calipari, who hasn’t been one to take sit out transfers, is betting on potential with Toppin and that might be a wise decision. Toppin’s brother, Obi, was named Player of the Year in college basketball last season at Dayton and will hear his named called in the lottery portion of the 2020 NBA Draft. Obi didn’t have a single star beside his name as a high school prospect.
As a freshman at Rhode Island last season, Toppin didn’t get to redshirt and work on his body the way Obi did as a freshman at Dayton. The 6-foot-8, 190-pound forward, averaged 5.1 points and 3.9 rebounds in 30 games as a freshman, including five games in double figures. Two of those double figure nights came against SEC competition.
For comparison, Toppin recorded as many double figure games against SEC competition as Johnny Juzang and EJ Montgomery did last season.
LSU: 10 points, 3 rebounds in 22 minutes
Alabama: 11 points, 3 rebounds in 17 minutes
Toppin’s best game of the season was in a loss to Richmond, who was in contention for a NCAA Tournament bid before the tourney was canceled. Toppin totaled 12 points and 8 rebounds in 23 minutes.
While it’s easy to look at his 5.1 points per game and question what his impact could be at a place like Kentucky, Toppin will be a solid piece for the program moving forward.
Under current NCAA rules, he will have to sit out the 2020-21 season. However, the NCAA Division I council is voting in May on a one-time transfer rule that could be put in place immediately for the 2020-21 calendar year, according to a report by Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball.com. I was told Thursday night the coaching staff believes they might get it done and have Toppin eligible this season.
