Texas Tech forward JT Toppin celebrates after scoring a basket during the second half against UNC Wilmington in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Wichita, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Summary: Toppin is a defensive stalwart who lays it all out on the floor with a strong interior scoring ability. But unless he can translate his soft touch from the paint to a much deeper range, he’ll be a limited scorer that will have to rely on others to make an offensive impact.
Comparisons: Jarred Vanderbilt, P.J. Tucker
Rim protection: Toppin is an explosive leaper with a high motor and good awareness for rotations. Though he isn’t large enough to anchor a defense as a lone center on the floor, he could be a key defensive cog as one of two bigs on the floor or the single big for a stretch of minutes.
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Defensive playmaking: He’d score highly on a reaction-time game considering how quick his hands are. He logs a ton of blocks and steals, whether he’s swiping at the ball when a ball-handler least suspects it, or throwing his arms up to intercept entry passes.
Heart: He regularly makes second and third efforts, especially with a relentless attitude defending and rebounding. And if he gets pulled out to the perimeter, he’ll put his all into getting a stop.
Soft touch: Over two college seasons, he’s attempted nearly 200 hook shots and floaters — and made 51.9% of them, per Synergy. That’s an outlier number for a player at any position, and also a nod to his shooting potential due to his soft touch.
At-rim finishing: Toppin isn’t an out-of-this-world leaper, but he’s a springy athlete who also brings activity moving around the baseline to look for cut, putback, and lob opportunities.
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Shooting: Despite his soft touch on floaters and hook shots, it doesn’t transfer elsewhere on the floor. In college he made only 32.5% of his 3s and only 65.3% of his free throws. However, one positive indicator is his free throw percentage jumped from 56.5% as a freshman to 70.1% as a sophomore.
Playmaking: Texas Tech did not utilize Toppin to facilitate. He’s untrustworthy with the ball in his hands, failing to recognize defenders looking for interceptions. And he’s not an effective ball-handler. All together, he had a negative assist-to-turnover ratio and doesn’t project as a player that’ll create shots for others any time soon.
Defensive discipline: While he is a shot-blocker and gets his hands in the passing lanes, he’s often caught out of position. He will fall for pump fakes, and too often gets his hands caught in the cookie jar. He fouled out of a big game against Kansas in March in which his defense was needed. And even on a switch, he too often gets caught flat-footed because his technique is so raw. Since he’s a bit undersized to be a true center, it’s going to be vital he improves here.
