The evolution of a Kentucky basketball player continues. Is now his time to become a star?
It was fitting that when it came time to find a narrator for the Kentucky basketball hype video shown at Big Blue Madness last weekend, Jacob Toppin was the Wildcat chosen for the job.
The video — shown to the Rupp Arena crowd and UK fans watching at home — was packed with the greatest moments and most memorable players in the program’s history. “Chasing Greatness” was the theme, and Toppin was the messenger.
“What is greatness?” the Kentucky forward asks as the video begins. “We’re not born with it. It’s not a right, and it’s not a gift — only for a chosen few. It is the obsession, the relentless pursuit of being the best. Not just the best at what you do. But being the best version of yourself. Every. Single. Day.”
For Toppin, that has become a mantra of sorts. And this could be the time that his own greatness is realized on the basketball court.
The offseason in any sport is a period of hope and hype, and there can’t be many returning players in college basketball that have been subject to more drastically realigned expectations than Toppin over the past few months.
Last season at Kentucky, he was seventh on the team in minutes, seventh on the team in points, seventh on the team in shots taken and shots made. There were certainly flashes of greatness — moments when that seemingly massive potential bubbled up and boiled over — but, for the most part, Toppin was merely a supporting player on a very good team.
In the seven months since Kentucky’s 2021-22 season ended — despite no real games being played over that span — Toppin has transformed into a figure of immense interest in the world of UK basketball.
Behind that hype has been a spring, summer and fall filled with hard work. The early results of Toppin’s focus on being the best version of himself were on display during Kentucky’s four-game exhibition trip to the Bahamas in August, but the signs of a breakout were evident well before that.
Leading into those games, UK’s coaches lauded Toppin’s focus and confidence. Chin Coleman mentioned him first when asked who the early birds at Kentucky’s summer practices had been. The praise came from his teammates, too, with reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe saying that Toppin — not himself — had been the best Wildcat on the court at that point in the preseason.
“He’s growing up,” UK Coach John Calipari said of Toppin on his pregame radio show before the Wildcats’ opener in the Bahamas. “Everybody’s on their own path. And for him — he’s got a different mentality about what’s going on. And he’s got a different kind of focus. … He’s been terrific.”
And then everybody got to see it.
Over the course of those four exhibition games, Toppin led the team in minutes. He was second in points, third in rebounds, third in assists, first in blocked shots and second in steals. He went 8-for-15 from three-point range for the week and had one game where it seemed like he would never miss — hitting his first eight jump shots en route to a 27-point performance.
Offensively, he was a versatile force, creating opportunities for himself and others.
On defense, he was relentless — both on the perimeter and near the basket.
“Jacob is so unique, because he’s a guy that could actually be, probably, the best defender in the country,” UK associate coach Orlando Antigua said after Game 1. “Everybody will see the highlights, but his IQ, his feel, his energy — he can do so many things.”
The work didn’t stop there.
Reminded a couple months after that Bahamas trip that Coleman had talked up Toppin’s habit of showing up early to the practice gym, Antigua was asked if that was still the case. He nodded along and smiled. “Every day,” he said, adding that Toppin was on the court at 7:30 every morning. “I think it’s self-motivated and self-driven. And it’s him realizing that he has an opportunity to do something really special. And be a part of a special team.”
Toppin grows up
Now in his third year at Kentucky — and his fourth season as a college basketball player — Toppin hasn’t been shy over the past year or so regarding his own personal growth.
In an interview about three weeks ago, a question began: “I don’t know if ‘maturity’ is the right word, but …” and Toppin cut it off there.
“Maturity is the right word,” he said, looking up with a grin, acknowledging the lack of seriousness he had upon entering the Kentucky program at age 19 and how that’s changed in the two and half years since.
“Coach Cal has helped me tremendously on my maturity,” the 6-foot-9 forward continued. “When I first came in here, I was a child. I joked about everything. I didn’t take anything really seriously. But he was on my behind, day in and day out. He called me out on everything. It’s made me a better player. And it’s made me a better person.”
Toppin — a lightly regarded recruit — began his college career at Rhode Island and played 18.5 minutes per game as a freshman there before transferring to Kentucky before the 2020-21 season. The original plan was to sit out year one on UK’s campus, work on his game, get stronger, and make a splash the following season. Instead, he was granted a transfer waiver and — on a team that ultimately went 9-16 amid the COVID-19 pandemic — thrust into immediate action. There were flashes of potential then, and there were even more flashes this past season, but Toppin remained a complementary piece to the Wildcats’ larger puzzle, and others — Tshiebwe chief among them — earned most of the spotlight.
If there’s truly to be a Toppin transformation on the court this season, it has begun elsewhere.
“I feel like he has become more of a leader,” Tshiebwe said. “He’s stepping up and trying to make sure everybody is doing what they’re supposed to do. And trying to communicate with the youngins, too. He talks a lot about doing the right thing, be where you’re supposed to be. If you don’t understand something, he’ll grab you on the side and talk to you.
“He’s just grown. From the first time I met him to today, I feel like his mentality just changed. Now he’s taking responsibility for everything.”
This is an important piece of who Toppin wants to be, and how he wants to be seen. He might have ended up with a reputation of being a goofball due to his joyful approach to the game, but Toppin is now one of the oldest, most experienced players in this Kentucky program, and he’s acting his age on the court.
Before, there were other veterans to lead the way. There still are, and it would be easy for Toppin to defer to guys like Tshiebwe, Sahvir Wheeler, CJ Fredrick and some of the other older guys, but that’s not the path he’s chosen.
“I always wanted to be a leader,” he said. “Because I know my potential. I know who I can be as a person. And I know who I am as a person. So it really just comes naturally. And over this summer, I’ve put in a lot of work understanding what I need to do to get better. And it’s showing. And that’s part of being a leader — having self-discipline and having that commitment to becoming better every day.”
Kentucky … and the NBA?
Orlando Antigua wasn’t at Kentucky when Toppin first arrived, but he understands the somewhat conflicting aspects of the young player’s personality and professional goals, and he’s observed how Toppin has transformed himself into a leader on this team.
“He’s a great example to our young kids — to the incoming freshmen — of what hard work looks like. And how you mature,” Antigua said. “I think he’s a very joyful kid. I think he’s a passionate kid. I think that can be looked upon as being immature, but he’s enjoying his teammates. He’s enjoying the college experience. And he may get a little silly with it at times, but the essence of him is a joyous kid and a positive kid.”
A few minutes after that Big Blue Madness hype video played to the Rupp Arena crowd last Friday night, Toppin took a pass off the backboard in the scrimmage that followed, flushed it down for a highlight-reel dunk, and proceeded to run over to the student section and deliver a double high-five to someone standing in the first row. The juxtaposition of a more serious approach and his naturally playful personality was right there for everybody to see.
“I mean, if I want to do this for the rest of my life, I have to have fun,” Toppin said. “The day I stop having fun playing basketball is the day I’m going to stop playing basketball. Nobody wants to do something for the rest of their life that they hate doing. It’s not good.
“So, I love this sport. I’m going to always be joyful when I’m playing this sport. But I also know when to be serious.”
And Toppin wants to play this sport for a long, long time.
Going through that NBA Draft process during the offseason — learning what it would take to get to the next level and stay there — was one driving force in his refocused efforts to grow his own game. Seeing his older brother, Obi Toppin, go through a similar process and emerge as an NBA lottery pick a couple of years ago is surely another motivating factor in his personal evolution.
The current ESPN projection for the 2023 NBA Draft doesn’t include Toppin’s name among its 60 picks. But there’s a lot of basketball to be played between now and June, and Toppin has now heard directly from NBA decision-makers what he needs to do to hear his name called.
Getting more consistent as a shooter, especially from three-point range. Understanding and reacting better on defense. Being a disruptive defender. Playing through bumps, getting stronger, showing a willingness to be more physical.
These are all areas Toppin highlighted as he recounted his feedback from the draft process.
He’ll also have to balance those personal areas of growth with Kentucky’s team goals this season, and finding that happy medium has been an ongoing subject of conversation with UK’s coaches.
“He’ll have his opportunities to show all aspects of his game,” Antigua said. “He doesn’t have to press about that. He just has to be worried about doing the right things for this team to succeed. …
“He’s a well-rounded basketball player. And you want him to display his entire game. And not get pigeon-holed into, ‘I gotta show that I can shoot a three.’ No. You’re more than that. You got more layers to your game than that. And I think that’s what we need him to be for us. He’s got to be able to get to the free-throw line. He’s got to be able to get in there, mix it up, and get some of those rebounds — use that athleticism in tight spaces. Those kinds of things. The tough, hard-nosed things that help you win games.”
Toward the end of that Madness hype video, Toppin’s narration focuses on that mentality.
“We are the greatest because of what we achieve as a team,” he says into the camera.
Now 22 years old, with three years of college behind him and likely just one more ahead, Toppin knows his personal goal of being selected on NBA Draft night is tied considerably to how much he can positively impact those around him over the next few months. He knows the possibilities of his versatile game and next-level athleticism will be what catches the eyes of NBA scouts, not taking the most shots or putting the most points in the box score.
“When you put yourself into the team first, everything else will come,” Toppin said. “So if I’m too worried about what I need to do as personal goals, then it’s never going to happen. Because I’m going to be too worried about that. It’s too strenuous on the brain.
“So I’m focused on what I need to do to help this team win. And, really, that’s playing defense. We want to be a defensive team, so I’m going to focus on how I can be very effective on the defensive end. And if I’m thinking defense, the offense is going to come. Because I’m a good player. I know I’m a good player. And I know I’ve put in the work. So it’s going to show, regardless.”
