Toppin adds Naismith Trophy to the case

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Published Apr 3, 2020

Toppin adds Naismith Trophy to the case

Matt Schwade • Rivals Dayton

Editor

@FlyerHoops

University of Dayton redshirt sophomore Obi Toppin has been named the winner of the 2020 Citizen Naismith Trophy, which is presented annually by the Atlanta Tip-Off Club to the top college men’s basketball player in the country. Oregon star Sabrina Ionescu was named the women’s Naismith winner.

“We saw great on-court performances by Obi and Sabrina throughout the regular season, displaying the talent and commitment worthy of the 2020 Citizen Naismith Trophy,” said Eric Oberman, executive director of the Atlanta Tipoff Club. “While their seasons ended earlier than we all would have hoped, we want to reward the skill and determination they had on the court, honoring them as the Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year winners.”

A 6-foot-9 forward from Brooklyn, Toppin is the University of Dayton’s first consensus All-American, having been picked a First Team All-American by The Sporting News, Associated Press, USBWA and NABC.

He has already been selected the College Basketball Player of the Year by the Associated Press, the USBWA, the NABC, The Athletic, USA Today, CBSsports.com, NBC Sports and Rivals. Sports Illustrated announced its Top 50 College Basketball Players for the 2019-20 season in March, and Toppin’s uniform number matched his ranking – “1.”

Toppin is also a finalist for the Los Angeles Athletic Club’s John R. Wooden Award, and the Basketball Hall of Fame's Karl Malone Award.

He finished the year averaging 20.0 points and 7.5 rebounds a game, and shooting .633 (245-387) from the field, .390 (32-82) from 3-pt. range and .702 (99-141) from the line. According to Synergy Basketball, Toppin led the nation with 1.20 points per possession while he was on the floor.

He was the only player in the country who averaged 20.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and shot over 60% from the field. He also had the best field goal percentage in the last five years of any Division I player who averaged 20 points a game.

Toppin led the A-10 in FG% (.633, 245-387), and was second in scoring (20.0). He was the only player in the conference to be listed in both the top ten in FG% and 3-pt. FG% (8th, .390, 32-82). He was also fifth nationally in field goal percentage, even though he took more than double the number of three-pointers the rest of the top 10 combined.

The athletic high Flyer also led the nation in dunks (107). His last five college field goals were dunks. He ended his college career as UD’s career field goal percentage record holder by the slimmest of margins. Toppin’s .6473 (446-689) edged Sean Finn’s previous record of .6469 (414-640).

Toppin lifted the Flyers to a 29-2 record, setting the most wins in school history even though UD did not get a chance to play any post-season games. Dayton ended the year ranked third in the nation and will carry a 20-game win streak into 2020-21, the longest active streak in Division I. UD won its third A-10 regular season championship in the last five years, but this season went undefeated (18-0) for the first time.