Over the last few weeks, Jacob Toppin has been remaking his case as a future NBA Draft pick.
While his name still isn’t floating around mock draft boards like it had been over the summer, the 6-foot-9 super-athlete continues to add to his intrigue from front office executives. Toppin started the 2022-23 season strong against inferior competition, but he self-admittedly slipped into a dark place right before SEC play began. It took back-to-back benchings against Florida A&M and Missouri in late December in order for him to find a way out.
But once he did, the same version of Toppin that Kentucky fans saw in the Bahamas emphatically announced his return.
Over his last seven games played, starting with the win over Louisville that came right after his lowly 13-minute performance against Missouri, Toppin has quietly played the best basketball of his life. The former Rhode Island transfer is posting per-game averages of 13.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.7 assists over that stretch, shooting 51.4 percent from the floor in 33 minutes per outing. Toppin has dropped two double-doubles during that span while showing off subtle improvements in his playmaking that have helped change how UK is playing as of late. He’s flying in for the lobs and putback dunks that made him a potential star in the first place.
Next Game
Kentucky vs Texas A & M (On time)
