AUSTIN -- The Texas Longhorns have been busy in the transfer portal over the last month, but have yet to fill the void in the frontcourt caused by Dylan Disu's departure.
Could that be changing soon?
Per On3’s Joe Tipton, the Longhorns are among a handful of teams showing interest in recent portal entree JT Toppin, a Dallas native and forward who played his freshman year at New Mexico this past season.
"Four schools are being mentioned showing early interest for the Dallas native: Texas, Texas Tech, Kansas State, and Alabama."
Given how well Toppin played for the Lobos, it'd be hard to imagine that this list hasn't grown substantially larger since he entered the portal on Tuesday. It's easy to see why.
In 36 games (35 starts) last season, Toppin averaged 12.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.1 steals, all while playing in a Mountain West conference that sent six teams to the NCAA Tournament, New Mexico included. The Lobos were blown out in the first round of March Madness by eventual Elite Eight participant Clemson, but Toppin's play was a major reason why New Mexico was seen as a potential Cinderella team.
Toppin declared for the 2024 NBA Draft and was invited to the Draft Combine, per an announcement Friday. Still young headed into what would be his sophomore season, Toppin could be looking to get some feedback from NBA teams before returning to college next year.
The Longhorns will certainly be adding more big men before the season begins, it's just a matter of figuring out who. Should Texas land Toppin, it would give coach Rodney Terry an elite frontcourt talent to complement what's already fixing to be a deep and skilled backcourt.
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