The 19-year-old Texas Tech leader, tied up by the Sweet 16, has his favourite basketball player and you might be surprised.
JT Toppin, a big 12 player this year and a big reason why the Red Raiders are still dancing in March, is a huge fan of key members of the Chicago Bulls team that won the title in the 1990s.
No, not Michael Jordan or Scotty Pippen.
Toppin was born five years after Dennis Rodman’s last season in the NBA in 2000, but his passion for “worms” is real. Both play high school basketball in Dallas, and both are grateful for the art of lost rebounds. Toppin may be the only person in college basketball who will truly choose Rodman as his favorite player.
“JT wants to get 20 rebounds over 20 points any time of the week,” said Ramon Sessions, a former NBA player who is Toppin’s agent and CEO of On Time Agency. “JT wears a Dennis Rodman shirt on a regular basis. He wears a hoodie. Their game is very relevant from an energy perspective.
“He’s watching a movie in Dennis Rodman, and it’s crazy.”
Toppin’s love for rebound and his aggressive prowess have been important for Texas Tech this season, setting Thursday’s sweet 16 game against 10th-seeded Arkansas. The 6-foot-9 forward has averaged double-doubles throughout two NCAA tournament games and plays a key role in the Red Raiders’ second-round victory over 11-seeded Drake. Toppin scored 25 points and 12 rebounds, with 19 points (9 out of 10 from the field) coming in the first half.
This is why Texas Tech spent a year in New Mexico and had to have Toppin, who was Mountain West Freshman before entering the transfer portal. And perhaps at least in part, that’s why Texas is already out of work for the NCAA Tournament and its coach, Rodney Terry.
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Toppin was invited to the NBA Draft Combine after his outstanding freshman year, but also entered the transfer portal to keep his options open. He loved his time in New Mexico, but he loved the idea of ​​the national spotlight that comes with playing at bigger conferences. The interest in the big, bouncy athletic man who played hard and came with his little ego was obviously huge.
“Smart value, he was the hottest thing on the market,” said the session, who played in the NBA for 11 years before becoming an agent. “People can guess what it looks like, but he was the hottest name on the market. From a NIL perspective, he was in a good place.”
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Texas soon emerged as a reported favorite to land Toppin. Sources familiar with the situation said the school was actively involved with Toppin’s high school coach, Brandon Thomas, to make it happen. Texas wanted Toppin, but it’s easy to imagine the Longhorns far better than the first four exits that led to Terry’s firing three seasons later.
The Texas booster, who all-in with the NIL in last season’s football program, appears willing to open in Terry. It was an open secret that Texas advert Chris Delconte turned his eyes to other coaches before he felt he had to promote Terry following his elite eight runs as interim coach in 2023. Texas fired Terry last week It is expected that new coach Shaun Miller will commit more resources.
In this current era of college athletics there is a new phenomenon that allows supporters to help kick coaches out by turning off the nil cash faucet. Sources say former Auburn football coach Brian Hersin is well known and he was connected with the school’s top booster and felt the impact of not being able to compete with top players. His alternative, Hugh Freeze, has the money to help him fix that issue smartly and sign the country’s eighth transfer portal class.
Texas Basketball sources say the asking price in the seven-figure or higher has ultimately proven too high for the Longhorns. The session didn’t want to go into the details of Toppin’s NIL compensation, but there were plenty of others if Texas had insisted they were willing to spend that much.
“More money was thrown into the table for him. There was more money,” he said. “But when you’re sitting at home in March, what does it do? When you’re in the sweet 16, you’re getting this.
What is the main reason why Texas Tech won the Toppin sweepstakes? General Manager Kellen Buffington is famous for Dallas Circle after running the camp and running ThetB5Reports Scouting. Buffington was a huge fan of Toppin and he could be the top transfer portal target for a massive power 4 program. That belief in Toppin and the associated relationship led to mutual trust among all parties. Toppin wanted the freedom to grow as a basketball player, and believed he could become more than a Rodman-esque rebounder, and that Buffington and Texas technology head coach Grant McCusland could do that at Lubbock.
That belief paid off everyone in a wonderful season that wasn’t over yet. A senior metric, Texas Tech has all the manufacturers of teams that can make the final four runs. The ability to all-in for Toppin when others can’t do that is a big reason.
“He just has the knack for winning,” Session said. “You put JT in Texas, JT in Kansas, JT in anyone. JT will be on top and he will influence the victory.”
Texas Tech knows that well.
