No Stage is Too Big or Too Small

Leading up to opening night of the 2020-21 Georgia State men's basketball season, each member of the roster will be featured on a different day with a story, video, and social media elements. We continue the series today with JoJo Toppin who enters his first season on the court with the Panthers.

From high school to now his college days, JoJo Toppin has known how to perform on even the biggest of stages. From his days at Meadowcreek High School before transferring to Norcross High School, or even at the University of Georgia before coming to Georgia State, no stage has been too big or too small for the young man originally from Brooklyn, N.Y.

However, in the case of Toppin, we aren't talking about the basketball stage which has seen him play with the best and against the best. In this case we are talking about JoJo Toppin the actor who has already performed on stage in front of countless fans.

After transferring to Georgia State following the hiring of head coach Rob Lanier, Toppin changed his major to IDS Theater Performance to continue on a path that he started as a sophomore in high school.

"I was at Meadowcreek my sophomore year of high school and took a theater class," Toppin said. "We did a small little play and some Improv. I had a close friend named Nelson and towards my senior year he passed away. He always used to tell me that I was good at acting.

"I really started to take it serious last year and it has been fun getting back into it. The classes I am taking now are really fun. We are doing some Improv stuff and I hear the same thing from my professors that Nelson used to tell me that I should take it more seriously because I'm good at it."

So how does acting on stage compare to the "big stage" of college basketball? Believe it or not there are a lot of similarities.

"There are so many similarities between being on the court and being on stage in front of people," Toppin said. "When you get on the court, it doesn't matter if you are home or away, you really don't know how the crowd is going to react to what you are doing. The same can be said for acting.

"The key to getting used to a crowd is just being yourself at first. If it doesn't go the right way, you can adjust from there, but it all starts by being yourself."

So, although the hope is that one day Toppin will get to perform on the biggest of basketball stages like Madison Square Garden, another stage in New York might suit him just fine as well. To perform on Saturday Night Live might not be a bad consolation.

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Players Mentioned

#4 JoJo Toppin: G; 6' 6"; Redshirt Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#4 JoJo Toppin
: 6' 6"; Redshirt Sophomore
: G

Players Mentioned

#4 JoJo Toppin

Players Mentioned

#4 JoJo Toppin