Ossining's Obi Toppin named AP's national player of the year; first since Elton Brand

Although his season may have ended prematurely, Obi Toppin's postseason of accolades has continued.

The 6-foot-9 Dayton star earned his biggest honor yet Tuesday when the Associated Press named him the men's college basketball player of the year.

Toppin, a graduate of Ossining High School, is the first player from Westchester to earn the honor since Peekskill's Elton Brand in 1999 when he was a sophomore at Duke.

Toppin led the Flyers to a 29-2 record, an Atlantic 10 regular-season title and a No. 3 national ranking, which matched the program's best Top 25 finish ever.

“Our team is very appreciative of what we accomplished,” Toppin told the AP, “just because we made history at our school.”

Toppin averaged 20.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game while shooting 63 percent form the field. Dayton had won its last 20 games prior to the NCAA canceling the remainder of the season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Toppin earned 34 of 65 player-of-the-year votes to beat out Iowa junior Luke Garza, who earned 24 votes.

Toppin's coach, Anthony Grant, was also named the AP's coach of the year.

"Honestly, if you had asked me, I swear we could've won a national championship and our team was so ready to play in the tournament," Toppin told the AP. "We were so locked in. But because of the virus, things happened. It's just going to be a what-if for the rest of our lives, but it's something we're going to have to live with."

Toppin is expected to enter the NBA Draft. ESPN currently projects him as the No. 9 overall pick while other mock drafts have him ranked among the five-best prospects.

The 22-year old played two seasons at Ossining and began to blossom after growing nearly 5 inches before his senior year. He averaged 20.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game, but he received no Division I offers until a year of prep school at Mt. Zion Prep in Baltimore.

Toppin grew 2 more inches and added 32 pounds through weight training. He sat out his first season as an academic redshirt after signing with Dayton in 2017. Toppin has gained 20 more pounds in three years there and — now a more formidable 220 pounds — he led the nation in dunks as a sophomore.

On Tuesday, Toppin continued to reap the rewards for his work, and the best may still be to come.

Toppin is also a finalist for arguably the most prestigious national player of the year honor, the Wooden Award, which will be chosen April 10.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Josh Thomson is the Local Sports Editor for The Journal News and Poughkeepsie Journal. He can be reached by e-mail at jthomson@lohud.com, on Twitter at @lohudinsider, and on Instagram at @lohudinsider.

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