Kentucky is among college basketball's blue bloods, and the team always carries with it some of the most recognizable players in the sport.
The 2023 NCAA Tournament will put one of these top-tier talents, Oscar Tshiebwe, on display. The big man leads the NCAA in rebounds per game with 13.1 and will be the driving force behind Kentucky's offense.
However, college basketball fans will be quick to point out another familiar name on the Wildcats roster. That would be Jacob Toppin.
Toppin, like Tshiebwe, is a forward and he is a key part of Kentucky's frontcourt. He is a team captain and averages the second-most rebounds per game at 6.9. He will be key in the team's first-round game against Providence, which has a well-sized frontcourt featuring Toppin's former college teammate Bryce Hopkins.
But as basketball fans watch Toppin in action, their questions will not be about Toppin's skill set. They will be about whether he is related to Knicks forward and former Dayton star Obi Toppin.
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So, is Jacob Toppin related to Obi Toppin? Here's what to know about the connection between the two forwards as Kentucky and the Knicks prepare to mount postseason runs.
Is Jacob Toppin related to Obi Toppin?
Yes, Jacob Toppin and Obi Toppin are related. Jacob is the younger brother of Obi, who was named the unanimous national college player of the year for his performance as a senior at Dayton.
Obi went on to be the No. 8 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft thanks to his stellar season with the Flyers. He has developed into a quality role player for the Knicks and is averaging 6.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 14.4 minutes off the bench during the 2022-23 season, his third in the NBA.
Meanwhile, Jacob began his career at Rhode Island during the 2019-20 season before transferring to Kentucky, choosing the school over Oregon and Iowa State. He has spent the last three seasons playing under the tutelage of John Calipari, but only became a full-time starter during the 2022-23 campaign.
The Toppin brothers aren't the only athletes in their family. Their father, Obadiah, played basketball at the Globe Institute of Technology in New York in college before playing in the Brooklyn Kings of the United States Basketball League, the Harlem Strong Dogs of the American Basketball Association and overseas in the Dominican Republic.
The elder Obadiah, a streetball legend known as Dunkers Delight, had an impact on both of the Toppin brothers. Jacob noted that both he and Obi picked up on some of their father's tendencies from watching him play during their youth.
"I used to watch him play all the time when I was younger whether it was in streetball games or whether it was in the city playing at parks," Jacob told the Louisville Courier-Journal in 2022. "He is – he was – a great player. He was very energetic like me and my brother and he was very athletic."
So, three prominent basketball players have come out of the Toppin family. While Obi earned the honors of being the first NBA player, Jacob will look to earn a national title at Kentucky, something his brother couldn't do at Dayton.
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Jacob Toppin stats vs. Obi Toppin stats
What Obi did do at Dayton was develop into the national college player of the year during his 2019-20 season. Toppin starred for the Flyers, helping to carry them to a 29-2 record and an incredible 18-0 mark in A-10 play.
Unfortunately, Obi and the Flyers didn't get a chance to play for a title that year. The NCAA Tournament was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Toppin still put together a remarkable, award-winning season.
As for Jacob, he hasn't been as big a star as his brother, but he was named a Kentucky captain ahead of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. He has had a statistical breakout in increased playing time as a senior and has been one of the team's most important players next to Tshiebwe and Anthony Reaves.
So, how do the brothers compare statistically? Unsurprisingly, Obi has the advantage. Below is a look at how each player fared on a per-game basis during their final college seasons.
| Stat | Obi Toppin (2019-20) | Jacob Toppin (2022-23) |
| Points | 20.0 | 12.5 |
| Rebounds | 7.5 | 6.9 |
| Assists | 2.2 | 2.2 |
| Steals | 1.0 | 0.5 |
| Blocks | 1.2 | 0.5 |
| FG% | 63.3 | 47.2 |
| 3PT% | 39.0 | 32.7 |
| FT% | 70.2 | 64.5 |
Their head-to-head numbers also favor Obi. They played twice when Jacob was a freshman at Rhode Island, and Obi averaged 21 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block in those contests. Comparatively, Jacob averaged 4.5 points and 5 rebounds while playing 16.5 minutes per game to his brother's 28.5.
Even despite his advantage, Obi believes that Jacob could one day play in the NBA. His brother was appreciative of that endorsement.
"It means a lot because that’s my brother and I look up to him," Jacob said during the 2020-21 season after transferring to Kentucky, per the Louisville Courier-Journal. "I’m just trying to work every day, getting better in the gym and hopefully one day that dream can come true."
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Now, the younger Toppin will look to bolster his chances of making the NBA by leading Kentucky on an NCAA Tournament run.
That will prove no easy task for Jacob and the Wildcats. They have a tough opening-round matchup against Providence, a team that matches up well against them. If Kentucky gets past the Friars, it will have potential matchups looming against Kansas State, Marquette, Purdue, Duke and Tennessee.
