Photo by SEC
When he initially decided to transfer from Rhode Island to Kentucky in April last year, Jacob Toppin came with the intention of wearing a red shirt in the 2020-21 season, regardless of the potential NCAA transfer rule immediately. At the time, the 6-foot-9, 194-pound striker from Brooklyn, NY, wanted to stay in the year to develop his body and game, leading to a strong debut season in 2021-22.
When the NCAA announced an additional year of eligibility for student-athletes competing in winter sports because of COVID-19, however, both Kentucky and Toppin decided to apply for an immediate eligibility waiver for a free season. college basketball. With four years of eligibility left, the long-term development goals of the student from the second student to the school could remain while they will help the program immediately. It was a win-win for both sides.
Now 19 games into his young career in Kentucky, Toppin has become a strong player on the bench, averaging 5.3 points and 3.6 rebounds in 16.2 minutes per game. And his biggest performance came in Britain’s 82-78 victory at Vanderbilt on Wednesday night, with the 6-foot-9 striker finishing with 16 points at 5-9 and 5-5 from the line to go with four rebounds. , two assists and a block in 22 minutes.
“I was so happy. What I told the team after that, a real team doesn’t know who will have that big game and who it is, of all I will be ecstatic for. They were ecstatic for him in that locker room, “said UK head coach John Calipari after the victory.” We are becoming a team. Jacob came in, he looked good, we managed to put the guard on, which meant we could change the big guy.
“Jacob, I wouldn’t have given up at all if he could have lasted in the game. He was playing too well. He came up with the last rebound that won the game, right? ”
In a year where any production is the icing on the cake for Toppin, he has now finished in double figures three times and added six or more recoveries six times.
As Calipari would say, he found a “beautiful change” in a season of “money found.”
“For Jacob, this is money found. There is money he found on the couch, “he said. “It changed a little bit of change.”
Despite his original red plans, Toppin feels that the free year of field experience allows him to improve as a player every day and prepare him for greater long-term success.
“This season has helped me a lot,” he said. “I learn from everything that happens, from the experience I get, I get better every day.”
With just one point up, 30 seconds to go, Toppin knocked down two free throws to take a three-point lead. After the Commodores responded with two free throws of their own, Toppin followed with two more marks on the line to extend the lead back to three with 19 seconds left.
There were four consecutive marks that helped consolidate the victory, the second in a row in Kentucky.
“It’s just a mentality. If you have that mentality that you will make the blow, you will make the blow. You can’t doubt it, “Toppin said of his free throw to close the game. “I had every confidence in the world that I would make those free throws when they mattered.”
Toppin’s long-term plans in Kentucky remain, but the Brooklyn native offers plenty of immediate help in a year that the Wildcats have certainly needed.