After two seasons at Illinois, sophomore guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn has entered the transfer portal. He announced his decision to leave Champaign on Wednesday via X.
Gibbs-Lawhorn entered the 2024-25 season as the only active scholarship player on the roster from the previous season, and he seemed to have the confidence of head coach Brad Underwood, who played him more toward the end of his freshman year. That continued early in Gibbs-Lawhorn’s sophomore campaign, as he started the season with a 21-point outburst in 21 minutes against Eastern Illinois.
The Lafayette, Indiana, native played double-digit minutes in 21 out of the first 23 games of the year. He even started his first two college games at the beginning of February. Tough luck followed, as Gibbs-Lawhorn played the next couple of games battling illness, and he understandably did not contribute. He quickly got out of his rut with 25 combined points against Wisconsin and Duke, but those outings were the last positive impacts Illinois fans would see from Gibbs-Lawhorn.
The final month of Gibbs-Lawhorn’s sophomore season was just plain bad. He went scoreless over Illinois’ final seven games of the year, and he played single-digit minutes in five of them. Gibbs-Lawhorn only played one minute in the opening round of the NCAA tournament and four minutes in Illinois’ season-ending loss to Kentucky.
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.”
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Gibbs-Lawhorn also looked annoyed when he was subbed out during the loss and did not have great body language on the bench or after the game. It was a rough ending for what was a once-promising career in Champaign for Gibbs-Lawhorn, and he will now move on to another school.
With the coaching staff moving away from Gibbs-Lawhorn at the end of the season and Illinois having a plethora of guards on the roster next year, he probably would not have gotten the opportunity to be a high-volume player or scorer as a junior. A mid-major program would likely give Gibbs-Lawhorn the reins as a primary scorer, but it remains to be seen if he will take a step down to produce more individually or land at another high-profile program.
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