With the Texas Tech basketball season less than two weeks away, the focus around Raiderland has turned to when superstar forward JT Toppin will return from offseason knee surgery to repair a torn ligament. Arguably the best player in America, he is guaranteed to miss a significant part of the season, and until he steps back onto the court, Red Raider fans are going to be speculating about his comeback.
Earlier this week, Toppin gave fans a timetable to hope for. The senior All-American told John Fanta of NBC Sports that he hopes to be ready to go by late December.
That would likely be the earliest anyone could expect to see Toppin in action. After all, late December is just nine months removed from his surgery date. That's about as quick as any player can resume playing after tearing a knee ligament.
Even if that timetable is accurate, Toppin will miss most of his team's non-conference slate. Of course, this season, Tech is pushing itself to the limit with its out-of-conference opponents by taking on No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Illinois, No. 11 Louisville, and No. 21 Southern California.
Texas Tech All-American star JT Toppin tells NBC Sports he’s targeting by the end of December to return to game action for the Red Raiders. Toppin has been recovering from a torn right ACL injury suffered in February.
— John Fanta (@John_Fanta) October 20, 2026
While the Big 12 portion of the season is most important, these key nonconference games are also critical to the Red Raiders' NCAA Tournament resume. If head coach Grant McCasland and his team are going to earn a favorable seed in the Big Dance, then they must have some notable nonconference wins to boast about on Selection Sunday.
With that said, there will be pressure on the rest of the Texas Tech roster to pick up the slack in Toppin's absence. So let's look at three players who will have the biggest roles in filling Toppin's shoes.
Josiah Mosley may have to fill Toppin's starting role for Texas Tech
Last season, it was Josiah Mosley who started the season sidelined due to an injury after transferring to Texas Tech from Villanova. He returned to play in January after a foot injury took months to heal.
When he did finally get on the court, he had an up-and-down season. However, he did show some flashes of being a building block for the program.
In 14 games played as a sophomore, he averaged 5.5 points and 3.6 rebounds. The 6-foot-8 Round Rock, Texas native didn't start any games a season ago, but that could change this year, especially while Toppin is out.
The status of UCF transfer forward Jamichael Stillwell is still up in the air as he seeks a fifth year of eligibility. If the courts grant him that, then the 6-foot-8 forward from Atlanta, Georgia, who averaged 11.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game a season ago, will start at power forward for Tech.
That's not a guarantee, though. So Mosely had better be ready to contribute in a big way. Mosely has all the athletic ability needed to be a factor. He is explosive and dynamic, but his offensive game needs refining.
Last year, he played double-digit minutes in seven games. Five of those came after Toppin was lost. This season, he could again be someone McCasland turns to in the post until Toppin returns, especially if Stillwell is ineligible.
Darrion Williams needs to be Texas Tech's alpha
Every team needs an alpha dog to set the tone. With Toppin out of the picture until at least December, that role will likely fall on Darrion Williams, who has returned to the program after one season at NC State.
Toppin is who this program has counted on in the clutch for the last two seasons. When the going has been tough, Tech has had the luxury of dumping the ball into the paint and allowing Toppin to go to work and get critical buckets.
With that option not available to start the season, Williams may need to be Tech's go-to option. Though he's only 6-foot-6, he's shown over the years that he's especially crafty when posting up defenders, and that post-up game is something that Tech will need from him in Toppin's absence.
Tech fans have seen plenty of clutch moments from Williams. He's hit as many big shots for this program as anyone over the past decade. That will probably need to be the case again this season, especially until Toppin is back.
Texas Tech needs quality minutes from Bassala Bagayoko
One intriguing newcomer to the program is 6-foot-10 freshman forward Bassala Bagayoko from the country of Mali. Though he's only a freshman, he's already 20 years old after playing professionally in Spain. Therefore, he will be asked to give this team some minutes in the post right away.
Without Toppin, Tech will be missing its best rebounder and a sneaky-good post defender. That's where Bagayoko could help out.
With a wingspan of 7-foot-6, he is long enough and athletic enough to match up with opposing big men. That will be critical against teams like Illinois, Duke, and Louisville, all of which have excellent size on their roster.
Tech won't need Bagayoko to be an immediate star. But he could be asked to be a key reserve who can defend the rim and rebound.
There is no one player who can replace Toppin. So the task for McCasland is to arrange the rest of his puzzle pieces so that Toppin's absence is minimized as much as possible. If these three Red Raiders live up to their potential, then perhaps Tech can survive the first part of the schedule and be in prime position when Toppin is cleared to play.
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