Texas Tech forward JT Toppin is playing like one of the best power forwards in college basketball.
LUBBOCK, Texas - Junior forward JT Toppin became a household name last college basketball season when he averaged 18 points and nine rebounds for Texas Tech, leading the Red Raiders to their second Elite Eight berth in program history.
Toppin was named the Big 12 Player of the Year and a Second Team All-American by AP, but that was just the appetizer for his 2025-26 campaign.
Through 17 games this year, Toppin leads the No. 12-ranked Red Raiders with 21.6 points, a Big 12 Conference-high 11.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. The numbers are staggering, and they're coming at volume with Toppin leading the country with 160 made field goals on the year.
A dominant double-double performance that helped Texas Tech upset No. 11 BYU in Lubbock - Toppin's 12th double-double of the year and seventh in consecutive games - earned him his first bit of national recognition.
Toppin was named the Naismith Men's College Player of the Week after averaging 29.5 points and 12.5 boards and three blocks over the last two games.
His shining moment of the last week was an emphatic rejection in one-on-one coverage against BYU's leading scorer and future NBA Draft lottery pick AJ Dybantsa near the end of the game.
The block was a footnote on a stifling second-half defensive effort that held Dybantsa to just two points in the final 20 minutes while the Red Raiders stormed ahead in comeback fashion.
After the game, the Texas Tech Basketball X page initiated the conversation around its best player.
"National Player of the Year conversation is building."
The 6-9 forward is having a career year, but he isn't alone.
Combo guard Christian Anderson - another National Player of the Week recipient earlier this season - is playing one of the sharpest brands of basketball in the country.
His pick-and-roll actions with Toppin have been a work of art for head coach Grant McCasland's offense as Anderson has the length and handle to slither around defenders and get downhill toward the basket or step beyond the arc and knock down shots from the outside.
It's a skillset that complements Toppin's bruising mentality on the interior perfectly.
Anderson is posting 19.8 points and 7.4 assists a night in his sophomore season in Lubbock. He's averaging the fourth-most assists per game in the nation while also shooting 42.9 percent from three-point range, fifth-best in the Big 12.
In fact, the long-ball has been working for Toppin, too, as he's hit six of his last eight three-point attempts, going 3 for 4 from distance over his last two outings.
Toppin, Anderson and the Red Raiders will look to keep the good times rolling in Waco on Tuesday at 8 p.m. as Texas Tech visits Baylor.
On Saturday, Tech returns to Lubbock to face top-10 foe Houston. ESPN's College GameDay will make it's debut broadcast of the season to catch the action.
They could be looking at a future National Player of the Year in doing so.
