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Illinois Basketball: Illini have top impact freshman for 2023-24 season

ByRees Woodcock|
PISCATAWAY, NJ - FEBRUARY 15: The logo of the Illinois Fighting Illini on the uniform shorts during in a college basketball game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Rutgers Athletic Center on February 15, 2020 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
PISCATAWAY, NJ - FEBRUARY 15: The logo of the Illinois Fighting Illini on the uniform shorts during in a college basketball game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Rutgers Athletic Center on February 15, 2020 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

Coming off an NCAA tournament first-round exit, the Illinois basketball program looks to make another trip to the Big Dance.

It will be a while before March rolls around, but the Illini are poised to have another successful year. So much talent returned to Champaign in hopes of advancing further in the postseason and boosting NBA Draft stock.

Despite Illinois bringing back a ton of talent and adding players in the transfer portal, there is still one lingering issue with the program.

Point guard.

Since Ayo Dosunmu and Trent Frazier departed the program, Illinois has been void of consistent point guard play. The leaders on the team in assists during the 2022-23 campaign were Coleman Hawkins (3.0 APG) and Terrence Shannon Jr. (2.8 APG).

Illinois was able to add some important pieces this offseason who will help at point guard. One of those pieces is Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn.

Gibbs-Lawhorn was a great piece to the Illinois class of 2023, and now he is getting some national shine. On Monday, On3.com published its top 10 impact freshmen in the Big Ten this season. Checking in at No. 7 on this list was Gibbs-Lawhorn.

Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn is going to get playing time for the Illinois basketball team as part of a point guard rotation

Coming out of Montverde Academy and originally from Lafayette, Indiana, Gibbs-Lawhorn was rated as a four-star recruit and was the No. 120 player in the class of 2023. After backing away from his Purdue commitment, Gibbs-Lawhorn found a home in Champaign.

Illinois fans got to see a glimpse of what Gibbs-Lawhorn could be for the program this summer. The program traveled to Spain for a series against some overseas clubs, and Gibbs-Lawhorn was able to get some solid playing time in the Illini backcourt.

I think Gibbs-Lawhorn is going to have a chance to make a big impact for the Illini this season. He is going to be in a rotation with Ty Rodgers, who I believe will be the starter at the No. 1 guard spot, and Niccolo Moretti, who might have had the biggest rise in stardom this offseason.

The fact Illinois went from having essentially zero point guards to now having a stable of solid distributors is exciting. I don’t expect huge numbers out of Gibbs-Lawhorn in 2023-24, but I do expect him to play some big minutes for this program.

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