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JT Toppin's ascent from underdog to alpha has Texas Tech basketball in prime March Madness position
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- JT Toppin's ascent from underdog to alpha has Texas Tech basketball in prime March Madness position
Grant McCasland's first time interacting with JT Toppin caught the Texas Tech basketball coach off guard.
Sitting on his bed in a hotel room in Chicago, Toppin was considering two different paths: stay in the 2024 NBA Draft after his stock had risen with a solid showing at the combine, or return to college and try to elevate his potential draft positioning even more. McCasland was one of many coaches trying to get Toppin to join their program, but the nonchalant manner of the Facetime call took him by surprise.
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"He's such a laid-back guy," McCasland said. "When you talk to him, he's awesome. He's such a good person, and I love being around him. But when he plays basketball, he plays with an edge and intensity, and he loves to compete.
"I've tried to explain it to people after I'd been around him a few times. JT is different than anybody I've ever coached. It's got a different energy to it."
Elite players often have the internal switch they can flip, showing two separate personality types in the same person. Jazz Henderson has seen both sides of Toppin for years, first as teammates at Faith Family Academy in Oak Cliff and now at Texas Tech. To Henderson, this is nothing new.
"He's always been focused," Henderson told the Avalanche-Journal. "It's always been when it comes to the basketball court, he's always been locked in. He's a little goofy and playful off the court, but definitely on the court he's focused and always trying to win."
Texas Tech's JT Toppin rises for a dunk in a non-conference Division I basketball game against Northwestern State, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in United Supermarkets Arena.
JT Toppin's relentless pursuit of perfection goes back to his roots
Brandon Thomas lost count of the number of times he and Faith Family coaches would start to leave the facility when they'd hear balls still bouncing in the gym. Practice had been over for hours, the coaches having had their final meetings and another film session before calling it a day.
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There was no need to guess who it was working on their game without the coaches around.
"We'd tell security, 'hey, JT's in there,'" Thomas said. "He'd just shut the gym down. Eight, nine o'clock at night, routinely."
Toppin didn't begin playing basketball until middle school. His mother, Naomi, loved the game long before Toppin took it up. Scholarship offers came in late because Toppin didn't make the varsity team at FFA until his junior year. Even then, Thomas could see how well the lengthy forward was progressing.
"He's always played with not a supreme level of confidence in himself because he's never been that highly-rated player," Thomas said. "He's always played more out of the mud mentality that he's trying to prove something."
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Coming up in a loaded Dallas basketball scene, Toppin was usually in the rear view of other players around the metroplex who scooped up Division I offers left and right. In leading his high school team to the state title his last two years, Toppin's athleticism was obvious.
Toppin has spent most of his life feeling like an underdog. He's worked himself into the alpha.
"He knows he's good," Thomas said, "so it's not necessarily proving that he's good and he belongs anymore. Now he's trying to achieve a goal, and that's to lead a team deep into the tournament and get drafted in the first round."
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - MARCH 13: JT Toppin #15 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders grabs a rebound over VJ Edgecombe #7 and Marino Dubravcic #22 of the Baylor Bears during the quarterfinal game of the Big 12 men's basketball tournament at T-Mobile Center on March 11, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Texas Tech basketball's potential in March Madness focused on JT Toppin
It didn't take long for Darrion Williams to know his new teammate was special. During a team workout last summer, Toppin beat Williams for an offensive board and, in one smooth motion, finished the dunk with his non-dominant right hand.
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Williams and McCasland shared a look with each other. That really happened.
"It's one thing to have that skill and that talent," McCasland said. "It's another thing to go beat somebody that bad, and that's what I'll give JT the credit for. It's not just athletics … but I just think his energy is electric in regard to how he competes and it's fun to watch."
Toppin's arrival has been a mutually beneficial move for both he and the Red Raiders. Toppin became the first player in Big 12 Conference history to be named the league's player and newcomer of the year in the same season. He's leading Texas Tech in scoring (18.1 points), rebounding (9.2) field goal percentage (54.8%) and blocks (38). On a team surrounded by shooters and playmakers, Toppin is the centerpiece for Texas Tech's highest-scoring offense in three decades.
Texas Tech, in turn, is looking to capitalize on Toppin's abilities in March Madness. The Red Raiders are the 3-seed in the West Region heading into the NCAA Tournament, and all eyes will be on Toppin, to which he has no problem.
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"Just something about being in the lights that he adapts to," Henderson said, "and he just shows that every time he's under the lights."
JT Toppin could bolster NBA Draft stock during March Madness
Scouts and prognosticators are split on Toppin's stock heading into the NBA Draft. ESPN's Jonathan Givony ranked Toppin as the 59th prospect in his Top 100 list released earlier this month. Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman has Toppin 34th, and CBS Sports ranked him 15th overall.
McCasland said he doesn't talk to NBA general managers during the season. Choosing to focus on the present, McCasland also knows that Toppin's success, and what Texas Tech could achieve in the NCAA Tournament, would benefit everybody.
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"Everybody's asking me, like, you think JT will come back? And I'm like, honestly, I hope not, because that means that we won the whole thing and he's an obvious lottery pick," McCasland said. "That's my mentality with this deal. Let's get everything we can to put him in the best position, our team in the best position for us to be good. ... Let that stuff take care of itself after we win."
Toppin's mentality hasn't changed with his success this year either. In the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals against Baylor, he finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds and had crucial stops on the other end against Bears big man Norchad Omier that preserved the win.
While he was happy with those successful defensive stands, Toppin said he should've had more stops. He'll take the win, but knows he could've been better.
"I just always wanted to prove myself, and that's just stuck with me," Toppin said. "It's always just stuck with me just being the underdog. I always wanted to show that I could do what all the greats do. That's all I'm trying to show."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: JT Toppin the key to Texas Tech basketball's March Madness potential
