DAYTON, OH - FEBRUARY 28: Obi Toppin #1 of the Dayton Flyers goes up for a dunk during the game ... [+]
The Knicks got their man in the NBA Draft and they didn’t have to trade up to get him.
Obi Toppin, the high-flying 6-foot-9 Brooklyn native who led Division 1 with 107 dunks last season at Dayton, was still on the board when the Knicks chose at No. 8 and they snatched him up.
Sitting at home with his parents, Roni and Obadiah, Toppin was overcome with emotion and had to fight back tears of joy.
“I’m very grateful and it’s a blessing to be in this situation,” he told ESPN’s Malika Andrews.
“I’m from New York, that’s why it’s important. Me repping my city, it’s amazing.”
The Knicks later added Kentucky guard Immanuel Quickley via the No. 25 pick. He will join former Wildcats Julius Randle and Kevin Knox and former Kentucky assistant Kenny Payne on the Knicks roster.
Toppin has ties to the Knicks as he signed with CAA, the former employer of president Leon Rose and his lead advisor William “World Wide” Wesley. He’s been training in South Jersey with Rick Brunson, who is close to Wesley and Rose.
“That guy is an NBA talent and an NBA player,” Brunson said.
Toppin spent two years at Ossining (N.Y.) High School and coach Mike Casey is thrilled that protégé is coming home.
“He will bring great energy and a big personality that New Yorkers will love,” Casey said.
Toppin averaged 20 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game last season at Dayton, while shooting 63.3 percent from the field, which ranked fifth nationally. He was named the A-10 Player of the Year and won the prestigious Naismith and Wooden Awards.
Toppin was the driving force behind a Dayton team that was 29-2 overall and a perfect 18-0 in the A-10 heading into their conference tournament in Brooklyn. Both of Dayton’s losses came in overtime on neutral courts. The Flyers were a projected No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament before it was canceled.
“He was a 6-2 guard in high school but he’s an explosive athlete that can finish at the basket with either hand,” ESPN’s Jay Bilas said on air. “A rim-runner, a lob threat. He shot 77 percent in transition and can really get out and run.
“He reminds me a little of Amar’e Stoudemire with the way he plays. Tip dunks, lobs, there he is running the floor and can dunk it with either hand....He can step away and shoot it from 3, shot just under 40 percent. He can pick-and-pop, he can pick-and-roll, the only question is his lateral quickness getting out to guard pick-and-roll.”
When NBA scouts contacted Casey, he told them Toppin is “humble” off the court.
Toppin’s mother, Roni, grandparents, aunts and other family members often attended his games and he is “surrounded by family,” Casey said.
“And it shows because that really speaks to the type of person and young man he’s become and he’s taken on that personality as one of the team leaders on Dayton,” Casey said.
George Washington coach Jamion Christian says Toppin possesses a “great spirit.”
“A lot of times you see guys who are really dominant and they kind of lose their spirit to compete and play,” Christian said. “He has this superstar spirit that’s genuine that I think people are going to really love as they get to know him more. I think the best ones always have that, they have something that’s a little bit different that’s not about themselves. I don’t know if it’s like an inner arrogance, but he’s got that.”
