National Player of the Year Obi Toppin declares for NBA draft
Obi Toppin is declaring for the NBA draft.
The Dayton star and AP National Player of the Year announced on Twitter on Wednesday that he is hiring an agent and forfeiting his remaining NCAA eligibility.
🗣Once again Thank You Flyer Nation ✈️
✍🏾
Love you always ❤️
Obi Toppin pic.twitter.com/NOa3pMtGDM— obadiah (@otoppin1) March 25, 2020
“I will be signing with an agent and foregoing my college eligibility by entering my name into the 2020 NBA draft,” Toppin said in a nearly three-minute Twitter video. “I want to thank you guys so much. I love you guys. Go Flyers.”
From unranked recruit to NBA lottery
Toppin joined Dayton in 2017 as an unheralded recruit with few offers. After two seasons with the Flyers on top of a redshirt freshman year, he’s a projected lottery pick in the NBA draft.
The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 20 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting 63.3 percent from the field and 39 percent from 3-point range as a sophomore this season. Dayton finished 29-2 and was projected as a No. 1 seed had the NCAA tournament not been canceled.
In addition to being named AP Player of the Year, he was the only unanimous selection for the AP All-America team.
Other college stars’ draft decisions
Toppin joins Georgia shooting guard Anthony Edwards and Iowa State point guard Tyrese Haliburton as likely lottery picks to recently declare early for the draft out of college.
North Carolina freshman point guard and projected lottery pick Cole Anthony announced on Tuesday that he’s delaying his decision because of the uncertainty and impact of the coronavirus. Anthony is from New York, which is the epicenter of outbreak in the United States.
“Given the pain that America and the world are experiencing at this time, I am going to refrain from making any announcements around that topic,” Anthony wrote on Instagram.
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