Jacob Toppin shines in season debut against Miles College

A lingering shoulder issue has kept Jacob Toppin from being a full participant in recent weeks. The Kentucky Men’s Basketball junior forward was out for over a month before playing his first minutes of the season on Friday night.

Toppin was one of the few bright spots throughout the 2020-21 season, despite originally being expected to redshirt. Heading into 2021-22, many are hoping for a breakout year, but concerns of too much depth and the minor injury have set him back early on.

However, that time off the floor hasn’t appeared to hurt his development. Toppin was a major highlight in Kentucky’s 80-71 win over Miles College. The junior finished with 12 points in just 16 minutes off the bench, adding four rebounds and one assist on a 5-7 shooting mark.

“It felt good,” Toppin said about getting back on the court. “I was definitely excited before the game. I didn’t want to get too excited because that’s when things get into my head so I stayed mellow, I stayed ready for the moment and when my name was called I was ready to perform.”

Beyond the stat sheet, Toppin was a constant bundle of energy and consistently played every second like it would be his last.

“That’s who I am. I take that personally. I’m a energy guy on and off the court,” Toppin said. “I’m gonna bring the energy wherever and that’s who I was. Defensively, I wanna bring the energy, and offensively I want to grab rebounds, defensively I wanna grab rebounds, so that’s my inner pride. I wanna grab every rebound, I wanna stop everyone who’s in front of me. So that’s just who I am as a person.”

Toppin is one of the most unique players on this Kentucky roster, one with unnatural athleticism and an imposing 6-foot-9 frame. There will be moments throughout the season where he’ll be the one holding down the frontcourt, particularly when Oscar Tshiebwe is dealing with foul trouble.

Kentucky’s interior defense was heavily discussed after the first exhibition win over Kentucky Wesleyan College. Toppin wasn’t out there to help, but he told head coach John Calipari after the KWC game that he wanted to be the guy to fix the issues in the paint.

A week later, Toppin helped do just that. He finished with a plus/minus of 13 while Kentucky held Miles College to just 18 points in the paint. It was his all-around effort that stuck out the most, though. If Toppin wants to play 15-plus minutes every game this season, he’ll have to bring that level of energy on a regular basis.

“If you’re not a dog, you’re not going to play under Cal,” Toppin added. “That’s what he wants. He wants people that are gonna dive on the floor, get those rebounds, play gritty, he wants players like that, and that’s what I did today.”

Calipari has talked endlessly this offseason and into the preseason about needing “dogs”; guys who want to do the dirty work. If you don’t play defense, you won’t play for Cal, and if you don’t fight, you definitely won’t play.

It was just one exhibition game for Toppin, but the head coach took notice of his play and it’s going to pay early dividends if he keeps it up.

“I thought Jacob played with more energy, more spirit than some of the other guys,” Calipari said in the postgame press conference. “Which means I may not start him, but he’s going to go in, and if he plays that way this means you’re playing less. Just how it is.”

Now 100 percent healthy and with a tune-up game under his belt, Toppin is in a great position to keep up this level of production.