New signee
- Thread starter butta1231
- Start date
I might be wrong ,but looking at his Assists and his highlights seems like he does not like to pass much. Looks athletic and can finish decent. I hope he has a big jump from last year. 25% from 3 from your guard is not what you would hope for.
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn enters transfer portal - The Daily Illini
After two seasons at Illinois, sophomore guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn has entered the transfer portal following an anticlimactic season end.
dailyillini.com
Mom sounds like a handful.
Gibbs-Lawhorn’s mother did not help the situation in the eyes of many fans, as she was known to go after the coaching staff and fans on X throughout the season. That continued to the end. She mocked her son getting pulled out of the team’s final game after committing a foul, writing, “Is DGL REALLY aloud to remain in game after a foul??’nn WWAAATTTT the hell os staff doing??! PULL HIM THE F**K OUT.”
The action is not fast and furious just yet but Josh did say that in the NIL era, it takes about 3 weeks from initial contact to done deal with potential targets so I hope next week things pick up for us then!
Really good find on this article. Looking at his game by game stats for the first 2/3 of last year he was really good.Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn enters transfer portal - The Daily Illini
After two seasons at Illinois, sophomore guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn has entered the transfer portal following an anticlimactic season end.
Mom sounds like a handful.
Gibbs-Lawhorn’s mother did not help the situation in the eyes of many fans, as she was known to go after the coaching staff and fans on X throughout the season. That continued to the end. She mocked her son getting pulled out of the team’s final game after committing a foul, writing, “Is DGL REALLY aloud to remain in game after a foul??’nn WWAAATTTT the hell os staff doing??! PULL HIM THE F**K OUT.”
Yeah I can see why they would take a chance on him. Before he got hurt it sounds like he had some good games. Then right after the return as well and then he fell off. Worth seeing if you can get that back. In the absence of NIL I imagine this is the type of player we will be getting. Relatively highly ranked recruits who showed flashes but got hurt or got in minor trouble or fell off for some other reason. Try to find value there.
Former 4 star recruit. Has shown flashes at Illinois.
Looks like he plays tenacious D and goes to the hoop with authority. Doesn’t play like a scaredy cat or is soft.
Looks like he plays tenacious D and goes to the hoop with authority. Doesn’t play like a scaredy cat or is soft.
We are in the “taking a risk” category on more than a few guys now, it’s what you do when NIL funds are limited!
The other angle I hope Josh explores is high school kids with a better than average rating who could not find a home within the P4 ranks. That way you maybe have a few holdovers each season that you can develop before they go off to the P4!
Really good thinking - especially now that we have 2 additional scholarships.
Has he actually though? There's no news of it and he hasn't announced it. It was just on on3, with no article.
He was erratic but wasn’t coached up unfortunately. 2 years in our program and never developed a new move or anything different to his offensive repertoire. It was always the same move.
DGL plays with some authority and plays a confident game. I don’t care about the family bs or what they said to fans etc., who cares?
How many open scholarships do we have now?
I saw a post earlier this week about having to have 15 scholarship players, if so, we have to find a bunch of guys!
You'll take your P5 hand-me-downs and you'll LIKE it!
I don't think we can really look at many of our players over the past few years to see what they really are. When you run the most inefficient "offense" I may have ever seen in college basketball, numbers will undoubtedly suffer.
Again with any coach, I want him to land/keep the guys that he wants. He did mention that everyone was essentially going to the portal when he arrived. Who knows how many players he actually wanted to keep vs keeping.
As for taking risks, I have no problem with that. I just don't want more than a few players being that risky, because risky players are risky for good reasons. We don't want too many dudes that are knuckleheads off the court, or not great team players, etc etc. Becuase that is a recipe for disaster regardless of "talent".
Again with any coach, I want him to land/keep the guys that he wants. He did mention that everyone was essentially going to the portal when he arrived. Who knows how many players he actually wanted to keep vs keeping.
As for taking risks, I have no problem with that. I just don't want more than a few players being that risky, because risky players are risky for good reasons. We don't want too many dudes that are knuckleheads off the court, or not great team players, etc etc. Becuase that is a recipe for disaster regardless of "talent".
His size concerns me. I don't want another DJT on defense. I want some big guards that can handle the ball but also play some D. He may be a good addition off the bench.
Let us trust the “developer of talent” on the moves he makes, from the portal! 😉
Lawhorn is the No. 68 overall prospect in the 2023 class, according to the On3 Consensus, the average ranking from all four major recruiting media companies. He’s also the No. 14 point guard and the No. 6 player in the state of Florida. Top 100 player, starting pg for Montverde, a power school. He will be a great addition.
He doesn’t play small though, he’s a different kind of player.
21-22 on Montverde, also played for Vegas Elite on EYBL. 22-23 not on Montverde. Still researching, He has hops and can do more than JT around the rim. Better defender but Big will wear you out with high post screens and Purdue, Wisconsin, Maryland, MSU, Michigan style of play. He would suit a more Houston type offense. Played his senior year for Christian Academy in North Carolina. Final ratings were 89 or so. Played with the older brother of Flagg at Montverde.
Last edited:
This fits the pattern so far of what CJP has done with bringing back our young recruits and base. I think this is the way for NIL maximization. You get a lot of hungry young transfers that are without a doubt likely to leave to bigger pastures after a good season, but they will give you max effort, have high ceiling potential with relatively low risk in year 1, looking to earn their NIL paydays. Then Josh can work to retain those he can next year with hopefully higher NIL budget.
The next step would be to really find those impact veteran players to fill our roster. That's where our NIL will likely be focused towards, Every player on the roster or transferring in is either a freshman or sophomore...
The next step would be to really find those impact veteran players to fill our roster. That's where our NIL will likely be focused towards, Every player on the roster or transferring in is either a freshman or sophomore...
DGL is a great kid. Not a point guard, though. 6-1 off guard. Hustles. Great athlete. Inconsistent with his shot. Much better shooter than his stats. Maybe consistent playing time will bring that out. He wanted more playing time than he would get at Illinois.
His mom is cray-cray, but DGL knows it and tries to keep her under control with little success. He is an Indiana kid who originally committed to Purdue. His mom went scorched earth on Purdue after he decommitted.
He’s a really good teammate. Best of luck to him.
His mom is cray-cray, but DGL knows it and tries to keep her under control with little success. He is an Indiana kid who originally committed to Purdue. His mom went scorched earth on Purdue after he decommitted.
He’s a really good teammate. Best of luck to him.
Who isn’t a knucklehead in their youth?
I’ll make her happy..Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn enters transfer portal - The Daily Illini
After two seasons at Illinois, sophomore guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn has entered the transfer portal following an anticlimactic season end.
Mom sounds like a handful.
Gibbs-Lawhorn’s mother did not help the situation in the eyes of many fans, as she was known to go after the coaching staff and fans on X throughout the season. That continued to the end. She mocked her son getting pulled out of the team’s final game after committing a foul, writing, “Is DGL REALLY aloud to remain in game after a foul??’nn WWAAATTTT the hell os staff doing??! PULL HIM THE F**K OUT.”
I like this signing. He's got 700 minutes in two years as a back up in a top half B1G team. He's not an outside shooter, but is a solid, aggressive finisher who can dunk effortlessly at 6'1", and while he's not a big guard, he's not built like Bedford or DTJ. He's an attack the rim scoring 2, and can handle the ball a little. This is 100% an upgrade to Brooklyn Hicks.
We really need some shooters though, especially if we're signing guys like Dra and Mikey to handle the ball.
We really need some shooters though, especially if we're signing guys like Dra and Mikey to handle the ball.
I’d say he’s a dime a dozen but he’s not even that. He’s a defensive back (as someone called before, maybe @Couev ???) trying to play basketball.
He wasn’t good.
I wish that was me, because that's both funny and true.
I still think HIcks had raw tools and a good motor, he was just shamefully underdeveloped. Whether that's the staff, or the kid not having the drive, or some combination of the two, the results speak for themselves.
That was me. I said Mullen could make a good DB outta him.
This is a nasty pickup. Watched a lot of Illinois games and hes the real deal.
Hes not good at all. Really head scratching when I see so many people praise him.
I praise his efforts, high energy guy but he’s a total wildcard but when reigned in and develop his shot, he can be extremely potent.
I see the potential, but unfortunately he just never developed and maybe he is taking his time to make sure his next move is that someone can develop him.
He got his chance to show what he could do with more playing time and was an absolute mess. Bad defense at times, turnover machine, and I can hit more 3s I think...
From the Illinois board
"I think it's worth while to give Dra a friendly farewell thread. As I said in the portal thread, he stuck it out another year after undoubtedly being disappointed with his playing time, he was a spark plug off the bench in several games this year and I was impressed with his energy and enthusiasm even in a more limited role. I sincerely hope he lands somewhere and has success. I've never been more happy to be wrong about a player, I really thought he might be a cancer to the locker room and have a bad attitude but he showed the exact opposite. I think it takes a lot of guts and loyalty to try to come back and improve your playing time and he gave it a go.
This post was edited by quadcitiesillini 10 days ago"
"Kid's a dog. Hope he has a ton of success wherever he lands, hopefully not in the Big Ten."
"I wish nothing but success (unless he plays Illinois) in his career. Great representative for the team, played hard, didn't gripe, and was a good teammate. Hopefully he is able to find a destination that gives him what he wants, as he has certainly worked for it."
"I think it's worth while to give Dra a friendly farewell thread. As I said in the portal thread, he stuck it out another year after undoubtedly being disappointed with his playing time, he was a spark plug off the bench in several games this year and I was impressed with his energy and enthusiasm even in a more limited role. I sincerely hope he lands somewhere and has success. I've never been more happy to be wrong about a player, I really thought he might be a cancer to the locker room and have a bad attitude but he showed the exact opposite. I think it takes a lot of guts and loyalty to try to come back and improve your playing time and he gave it a go.
This post was edited by quadcitiesillini 10 days ago"
"Kid's a dog. Hope he has a ton of success wherever he lands, hopefully not in the Big Ten."
"I wish nothing but success (unless he plays Illinois) in his career. Great representative for the team, played hard, didn't gripe, and was a good teammate. Hopefully he is able to find a destination that gives him what he wants, as he has certainly worked for it."
