Jacob Toppin, Lance Ware Named Captains Heading Into The Postseason
On the night that Kentucky found out their tournament destination, Head Coach John Calipari decided he would name two players the captains of this team as they plan to make a run into the NCAA Tournament.
"I named Jacob and Lance captains," John Calipari announced to reporters on Sunday evening. "Now, I never named captains, as you all know, but this, this is going to fall on enabling them to lead each other, and to hold each other accountable."
While that is very much correct, he never names captains but for some reason he felt like for this postseason that he needed to. When asked on the motive behind the decision, he responded (for Toppin), "I'm putting this on Jacob because I need him to be more and when he's more we're pretty good."
When asked why Lance Ware was named as well, he said, "...Because he is one that everyone listens to." He continued by saying, "My thing to him is, when they know a guy is leading and may or may not play yet, he's been the same. They will follow."
While Jacob Toppin will probably get the ultimate say between the two since he's more of a valuable piece to this team, I think they both bring quality traits to the leadership positions. Jacob brings a veteran pulse while Lance brings the comfort of every player wanting to listen to what he has to say. Not to say that Jacob isn't likable, because he is, but Lance Ware is just that goofy, positive-attitude style of a person that will take charge during some of the worst situations. There's a lot of comfort backed by trust for a personality like that. And for Jacob Toppin, he's a starter, a senior, and isn't afraid of any challenge presented to him so the fearless trait that he brings makes him a great one too. While this is very much Cason Wallace or Oscar Tshiebwe's team, I'm not sure if they could be considered the leaders because of the fact that Wallace is just a freshman, and Oscar isn't as vocal on day-to-day operations as the other two.
The Wildcats were informed that they will be taking on 11-seed Providence in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament this Friday evening. The game will start at 7:10 p.m. ET.