Texas Tech's JT Toppin dominates inside, outplaying top freshmen and staking his claim for National Player of the Year.
This year of college basketball has been exciting and full of spectacular performances, and a lot of them have been from the nation's best freshmen.
But Texas Tech junior JT Toppin is one of the upperclassmen giving these "youngsters" a run for their money.
The Red Raider are currently ranked at No. 11 in the AP Top 25, and his absolutely stellar play on the inside has been the driving force.
So much so that he could be a candidate for National Player of the Year when the season comes to an end.
Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller seems to think that he definitely has a shot.
In his recent article, he makes his latest ranking on the players who are most likely to win the prestigious award. At No. 3 he has Topping, and he is behind the nation's top two freshmen.
"Can't imagine we're spoiling any sort of big reveal here, but the top two candidates battling for National Player of the Year are Cameron Boozer and AJ Dybantsa," Miller writes. "One major common factor linking those soon-to-be lottery picks... they both suffered losses to Texas Tech... if Toppin does his thing... this race could get all sorts of fun."
Dybantsa and Boozer are the two guys who have been at the No. 1 spot in seemingly every NBA mock draft, but Topping has been able to get the better of both of them at some point this season.
He had 19 points and 10 rebounds against Boozer and Duke in an 82 to 81 win back in December, and he exploded for 27 and 13 against Dybantsa and Brigham Young in a double-digit win just a couple of games ago.
The junior big man is averaging 22.1 points per game, which ranks him eighth in the country. He is also getting it done on the glass, where he is sixth in the nation with just under 11 rebounds per game.
If Toppin can continue this play and keep leading the Red Raiders to big wins, he could have a shot to win the award that all college basketball players dream of winning at some point in their careers.