Miami Tru: Washington latest former Lobo to officially move on in month of heavy roster turnover

It’s Tru. He’s headed to the U.

Former UNM Lobo shooting guard Tru Washington on Wednesday announced he will be playing next season at the University of Miami in the ACC.

The 6-foot-4 defensive-minded Washington entered the transfer portal on March 25 and on Wednesday told On3 Sports he has committed to play for the Hurricanes and newly-hired head coach Jai Lucas.

Washington ranks as the 104th-rated transfer available so far this offseason, according to On3’s database.

The former 4-star recruit out of Arizona averaged 11.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.1 steals this season for UNM.

He and fellow starting backcourt guard Donovan Dent both transferred out of UNM, announcing their intentions even before former coach Richard Pitino was offered the job he eventually took at Xavier University.

Dent wasted little time in committing to transfer back to his home state of California to play for the UCLA Bruins.

A FEW MORE TO CINCY: It appears the UNM Lobo basketball exodus to Cincinnati, and more specifically to Xavier University, has come to a close.

The final tally of Lobos turned Musketeers following Richard Pitino appears to be eight (nine counting Pitino) — two players and six staff members.

Both former Lobo forwards 6-9 Filip Borovicanin and 6-10 Jovan Milicevic have transferred to Xavier.

Tuesday, Xavier University officially announced all of Pitino’s new staff additions, one assistant retained from the previous coaching staff, three former Lobo assistants that had already been reported on, and three new names who were on staff for the past several seasons in Albuquerque.

The assistants previously reported who were following Pitino were Isaac Chew, Tarvish Felton and Aaron Katsuma. Tuesday’s news release confirmed strength coach Matt Flores, director of operations Peyton Stephens and video coordinator Daniel Walters are also joining the Xavier staff, though Walters’ new title is assistant coach/Director of Player Development.

TOPPIN OUT: Former Lobo J.T. Toppin is certainly making the most of the new world of college basketball.

CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander on Wednesday reported “J.T. Toppin is expected to be paid $4 million in NIL earnings at Texas Tech next season, a source tells CBS Sports. The latest/biggest piece of evidence that reflects how invested TTU is in basketball—and a positive development for the sport to retain a player as great as Toppin.”

After earning Mountain West Freshman of the Year honors as a Lobo in the 2023-24 season, Toppin was named the Big 12 Player of the Year and earned Associated Press 2nd Team All-America this past season after opting to leave UNM for what multiple reports stated was around $1.2 million this past season.

According to next year’s NBA rookie pay scale, the top 14 picks in this summer’s NBA Draft will be paid more than $4 million — with the No. 14 spot slated at $4,083,600 for the 2025-26 season.

Anyone drafted 15th in the first round or later will make less than the $4 million Toppin is projected to get now by staying at Texas Tech, which lost in the Elite Eight last weekend to eventual National Champion Florida, 84-79.

Before the announcement, Toppin was projected on NBA mock drafts anywhere from No. 14 in the first round by NBADraft.net to No. 48 in the second round on ESPN.com.