Texas Tech’s biggest transfer of the offseason, the blue-chip prospect out of New Mexico in center JT Toppin has been in Lubbock for two months after announcing his commitment to the Red Raiders in late May.
Toppin’s announcement was a bombshell around the college basketball world, and the early returns for the Red Raiders have been more than promising.
Head coach Grant McCasland shared a brief story about Toppin’s ability and how it has impressed the coaching staff and one of the most prolific returning players this season for Tech.
“We're in practice, and Darrion Williams, one of the best returning players in the Big 12 who a great rebounder, and he was trying to block out JT (Toppin).
The ball bounced off the rim and Toppin grabbed it from him over the top of him, pivoted and dunked the ball with his right hand at the rim. He’s a lefty. Darrion looked at me and I looked at him, and I was like ‘Yeah.’
It’s one thing to watch it on film and watch it in games. It's another thing to be out here and experience it and the things he does and his tenacious ability to go grab the ball defensively, and then he's got a lot of offensive talent. I'm just telling you; we're really excited about his ability.”
From the outside, Toppin seemed to be the missing piece for Tech’s roster, but to the 6-foot-9 center, he believes the Red Raiders have all of the pieces to make a run in the Big 12 this season.
“I feel like we got all like the keys we need,” Toppin said. “Like we’ve got shooters, we’ve got rebounders and we’ve got big guards. What I feel like I really needed was good teammates and they’re really good people too.”
While it was not a forgone conclusion that Toppin would be a Red Raider throughout the transfer portal process as for the star rising sophomore it was about finding a spot in the NBA.
“The recruitment process changes pretty quickly, and I think his focus really was how he can get to the NBA. I mean, I believe he was really close. I believe he was going to be drafted, but where was why I think he decided to come back to school,” McCasland said.
“He's got an awesome family. He's got a great high school coach. He's got great people around him. His mom's amazing. I just think in the end, they felt like this is the best way for him to continue to grow and improve.”
Toppin echoed a similar sentiment around his NBA draft process despite having a clear idea of where he was headed before removing his name from the draft in mid-May.
“It was smooth because my agent really did most of the negotiating,” Toppin said. “I knew I was going to Tech before I even got out of the draft, so I knew where I was going and I just felt like it was the best fit for me to come here.”
In choosing the Red Raiders, Toppin will have the opportunity to up his stock heading into next year’s NBA draft where he hopes to take the step professionally. To take that step, Toppin must implement some of the critiques that NBA scouts had for the big man.
“I feel like the draft process helped me, it was a rough process, but it helped me learn where I need to be for next year,” Toppin said. “I’ve got to get my perimeter game up, my shooting, and they want me to be able to guard the ball one through five.”
For the Red Raiders, McCasland expects Toppin to be able to balance what is best for the team to win, which is likely to be his defensive ability around the paint and ferocious offensive prowess around the glass, with taking perimeter shots and guarding one through five to make that step to the NBA.
“Speaking of JT’s development, I think JT knows what he does best to win. And I do think that he believes and knows that he can go score, he can rebound around the rim, but he's really worked on making threes and he can make threes. I do think if you look at the analytics that if he can make perimeter threes at the right time, it really expands our ability offensively.” McCasland said.
“One thing I love about JT is I think he understands the balance like ‘this is what’s going to help me pro wise’ and ‘this is what's going to help our team win.’ And I think he’s just gonna play the right way. But his perimeter game, I love the way he can make open threes. It really does change the offense; and he's a great passer. I think he's an extremely underrated passer. So, I'm really excited about involving him in the offense and helping him get better and him helping us win.”
The message from McCasland to Toppin echoed a similar tone as the star from New Mexico expects to have a large role for the Red Raiders hunt for a second tournament berth under McCasland this winter.
“He’s told me to be a good teammate and that I’ve got to score,” Toppin said. “I'm going to have a big role this season, I have to play defense and rebound, that's really my thing. I want to play good defense, rebound and score on the offensive end.”
