Before we close the book on the 2022-2023 Kentucky basketball season I think it’s important that we look back at the team and how they performed and what we can look forward to from them in 2023-2024. We started with Oscar yesterday and now look at Jacob Toppin.
Season Review
Jacob Toppin came into the season with a lot of buzz. There was never any doubt about his physical gifts and after two years as a role player many felt it was time for Jacob to take a massive leap and potentially become a star, Dealing with the pressure of living up to the standard of his older brother Obi Toppin and Kentucky in general clearly had an impact on Jacob and we spent months watching Jacob be a shell of himself as he overpowered the cupcakes but settled for bad shots, barely played defense, and in general looked disinterested against any team with a pulse.
Then a flip switched sometime around mid-January and the real Toppin showed up. Jacob spoke openly about his mental health struggles which is an important reminder remember that these guys are not robots nor can they be reduced to a mathematical formula when we try to evaluate the season (and before we wildly overreact on call-in shows and social media). Over the course of conference play Toppin was one of the best players in the SEC and as a result Kentucky’s season was saved from disaster. In SEC play he averaged almost 13 points, 7 rebounds, and almost 3 assists while shooting 49% from the floor (including 50% from 3 while attempting a healthy number for the first time since his Freshmen year at Rhode Island).
Season Highlight
Toppin’s highlight for me was the 1st round game against Providence. Things seemed to come full circle with Toppin matching up with the guy many in BBN believed should have been kept and taken some of his minutes. So not only was Toppin wearing the 800 pound gorilla of St. Peter’s on his shoulders he also had the personal battle with Hopkins hovering over him.
Toppin answered the bell and proved why Cal made the right choice last season in playing him, he finished with 18 points and 6 rebounds but most importantly he locked down Hopkins just about every time he matched up with him and led Kentucky to it’s first tournament win in almost 4 years. The key moment came in the first half and it was a huge a block from Toppin on Hopkins at the rim that led to a Reeves three and Kentucky pushing the lead to 11 that it never really relinquished.
Honorable mention is probably his performance down in Fayetteville. Kentucky went on the road without a PG and Toppin flashed point-forward skills that the NBA covets and scored 21 points. With the score 55-50 and Arkansas on the verge of a big run Toppin hits a three to push the lead back to 8 and steady the team (Arkansas never got within 5 again). A few minutes later he did it again with Arkansas getting within 6 and a Toppin 3 pushed the lead back to 9 which ended the game for good.
Season Lowlight
The lowlight was the performance against Missouri. Toppin had already been benched against Florida A&M and he came off the bench in Colombia and it was a disaster. He looked listless and it seemed to infect the entire team. Toppin didn’t score a point in 13 minutes and Kentucky was undressed.
Honorable mention for lowlight is the 2nd round game against Kansas State. Unlike the Missouri game the effort and intensity were there and Toppin played good defense most of the game, unfortunately he could not buy a bucket. 2 points, 4 rebounds (which looks bad but Oscar was literally grabbing all of the rebounds) on 1-7 shooting was not what Kentucky needed and it came at the worst time.
2023-2024 Outlook
Jacob Toppin still has one year of eligibility due to the NCAA’s COVID rule. I do not anticipate him using that year and instead he almost certainly will pursue his pro-options. He probably won’t get drafted but he does have the athleticism and if he can kill the work-outs someone might take a flier on him and he’ll certainly get picked up for Summer League.
That being said Toppin might have some very real NIL opportunities should he stick around and Kentucky could almost certainly use him depending on how other decisions shake out. Toppin’s skill-set could be really valuable with a rim protector playing behind him and a high-level two-way wing playing alongside him. If/when he does leave Kentucky will likely have to fill his role in the portal and I have serious doubts if Kentucky can upgrade on what Toppin is right now going that route.
Whatever he does I hope he knows how much I enjoyed watching him develop as a player and person over the last three years and I’ll be rooting for him wherever he ends up.
