Jacob Toppin Withdraws from 2022 NBA Draft, Will Return to Kentucky

Jacob Toppin isn't done at Kentucky.

Toppin, who is the younger brother of New York Knicks forward Obi Toppin, announced Tuesday in a video message that he is withdrawing from the 2022 NBA draft and returning to the Wildcats for the 2022-23 campaign.

He ended his message by saying: "Let's run it back one more year. Go Big Blue."

It doesn't come as a massive surprise that Toppin isn't remaining in next month's draft.

After all, Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman released an updated mock draft Tuesday that did not have him being selected in either of the two rounds. He also started just four games for the Wildcats last season and was more of a secondary contributor.

Toppin averaged 6.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.6 blocks per game in 2021-22 and shot 55.6 percent from the field.

He wasn't much of an outside shooter, but he can work in pick-and-rolls and provide interior scoring and rebounding. He may also be a bigger factor for the Wildcats during the upcoming season with more experience and the expected roster turnaround.

Toppin started his collegiate career at Rhode Island but transferred to Kentucky ahead of the 2020-21 season. He has yet to live up to his brother's college legacy considering Obi was the men's National Player of the Year in 2019-20 and a consensus All-American at Dayton.

The younger Toppin can be a matchup problem because of his athleticism, and ESPN's Jeff Borzello called him a "potential breakout candidate" for a team ranked No. 3 in the publication's early Top 25 rankings.

If that is the case, Toppin may hear his name called at the 2023 NBA draft.