Texas Tech forward and reigning Big 12 Player of the Year JT Toppin announced his plans to return to Lubbock for his junior season. Toppin made the announcement via Instagram on Wednesday after ultimately deciding to pass on the 2025 NBA Draft where he was a projected early second-round pick.
The 6’9” athletic forward began his college career at New Mexico and even declared for the draft last season before ultimately deciding to transfer to Texas Tech. This past year he averaged 18.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 1.2 assists as the top player on an Elite 8 team that was a few made free throws away from taking down the eventual national champions.
JT TOPPIN SAID RUN IT BACK 😤
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 9, 2025
The Red Raiders will have their All-American forward back next season 🙌 pic.twitter.com/8pEgccay4z
JT Toppin announces his return to Texas Tech
This news is massive for Grant McCassland and Texas Tech fans just one day after Big 12 All-Freshman team member Christian Anderson announced that he will be returning as well. There is no doubt that money played a role in this decision as it is being reported by Matt Norlander that Toppin will earn around $4 million dollars in NIL as a college athlete next season, which is far more than what he would make next year as a late draft pick.
While many believe players being able to make money has ruined college athletics, this is one clear upside as it helps bring back elite talent instead of them going pro early. On the downside, this likely played a role in the decision of Toppin’s former teammate Darrion Williams who recently announced he would be entering the transfer portal and the NBA Draft.
Alongside Purdue’s Braden Smith and UCLA’s Donovan Dent, I would categorize Toppin as one of the best returning players in college hoops next season. In addition to Toppin and Anderson, the Red Raiders will also likely return key role players in Federiko Federiko and Kevin Overton.
With this news, Texas Tech surely looks to be one of the top teams in the Big 12 and in legitimate contention to be one of the best teams overall who will be competing for a national championship next season. Sportsbooks would agree as Texas Tech’s odds on FanDuel to win the 2026 national championship went from +2500 to +1800 following the announcement of Toppin’s return.