Reuniting with former teammate JT Toppin in Lubbock offers the perfect encore for a premier facilitator boasting elite vision and nearly 800 career collegiate assists.
A shining opportunity for head coach Grant McCasland and Texas Tech men's basketball to upgrade their backcourt could be presenting itself.
While college hoops phenom JT Toppin continues rehabbing from the torn ACL he suffered against Arizona State back in February, the Red Raiders should look to target his former teammate at New Mexico — Donovan Dent.
Dent opted against following former Lobos head coach Richard Pitino to Xavier and instead spent his senior campaign at UCLA.
With the Bruins in 2025-26, Dent fully embraced his role as a distributor, averaging a career-high 7.6 assists to go along with his 13.3 points per game.
He'd announce his retirement from basketball in May to train young athletes back in Albequerque.
... but that no longer seems to be Dent's plan.
Per KRQE News 13, Dent has applied for a fifth year of eligibility, though he doesn't know where he'll be playing next.
“I just looked at it as another opportunity because I was completely done with it, and seeing that they made a fifth year possible and all of my coaches and my family were like,’ Let’s give it one more,'” Dent said. “They kind of talked to me about it, and I was like, okay. We just look at it like another opportunity for a blessing, I guess.”
With roster spots still open, Texas Tech should certainly explore the possibility of reuniting Dent with Toppin.
The relationship between the two extends beyond simple familiarity.
The duo spent the 2023-24 season terrorizing Mountain West defenses at New Mexico, helping guide the Lobos to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in over a decade before each blossomed into stars in their own right.
Toppin developed into one of the premier frontcourt players in college basketball under McCasland, while Dent emerged as one of the nation's most gifted facilitators during stops in Albuquerque and Los Angeles.
Which is exactly why a reunion in Lubbock would make plenty of sense.
Texas Tech already possesses scoring throughout its roster — but adding an experienced floor general with nearly 800 career assists would give the Red Raiders another player capable of organizing the offense when games inevitably slow down in March.
Should Dent's waiver get approved, few available players would fit more seamlessly alongside Toppin than the point guard who helped unlock his game in the first place.
