Illinois Basketball: 5 big questions for the Illini against Oakland

2. Will Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn keep earning minutes?

I mentioned this after the Eastern Illinois game, and I will say it again. Overall, the performance by the Illini in game one was just, meh. This didn’t look like a smooth game by any means.

There was a major bright spot for the Illini, though. True freshman Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn balled out against the Panthers. He finished the win with 18 points, three rebounds, three assists, one block, and one steal. He also hit 7-of-10 from the field and 2-of-5 from three-point range.

Coming into the game, I didn’t think Gibbs-Lawhorn was going to get a ton of shine due to him being a freshman and Brad Underwood having a lot of upperclassmen on the roster. But Underwood showed me he trusted the talented guard.

The 19 minutes that Gibbs-Lawhorn played didn’t show me that Underwood trusted him. It is when Gibbs-Lawhorn played the minutes. He was subbed in at the 15:01 mark in the first half. Illinois was down 11-4 at the time, and Underwood subbed in a true freshman guard.

One of the big questions I have for the game against Oakland is; will Gibbs-Lawhorn continue to earn more and more minutes?

The trust is clearly already there with Underwood, and that was a huge hurdle to clear. Gibbs-Lawhorn was efficient with the ball too, only having two turnovers to his three assists. That factors into more future playing time.

It wouldn’t shock me to see Gibbs-Lawhorn surpass 20 minutes against Oakland. He has a ton of talent, and Illinois looks to have a special player on our hands.