WESTFIELD — Today was Opening Night of the second April Evaluation Period, and college coaches stood in for the directors of their collectives by representing their schools on the recruiting trail.
Anyway, I'm going at the Nike EYBL deal at the Pacers Athletic Center all weekend, with really one player to really see. There are some underclassmen at this thing, but this is my first chance to see Purdue commit Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn since he returned from injury.
I'll do a story on him at some point, but here's our video interview first off.
So here's how his game went today, Gibbs-Lawhorn's first game with Indy Heat after coming off from Vegas Elite, which he'd aligned with while at prep school out in Utah, before he moved to Monteverde in Florida.
Indy Heat beat Team Takeover 88-68, a really impressive win in which it led by 13 at half and then grew the lead in the second. Not bad for a team that looks pretty different from its form during the first EYBL session two weekends ago in Orlando, there having been some personnel changes, most notably Gibbs-Lawhorn replacing the departed Braelon Green.
DGL, as he shall be known here solely for my own convenience, started for Indy Heat and got off to a rough shooting start, missing threes and a couple of runners, but once he settled in, some things fell in place. He finished with 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting, making a pair of threes and getting to the rack a couple of times for creative finishes.
A couple thoughts in bullet-point form since I'm too tired for transitions right now.
• He knows how to score. While he didn't make shots to start this game, he showed his ability to get to his spots for shots against high-level opposition and did show a knack for being able to create space for himself. I do think he may be a little like Jaden Ivey in that he's more a rhythm shooter than a pure on, but this was just one game. But he did seem very comfortable shooting off the dribble.
• For a scoring-minded player, I thought he did a nice job sharing the ball. There was one assist he had on a three for a teammate where the ball came out after either a post outlet or offensive rebound and DGL could have shot it or drive, but turned down the proverbial OK look for himself for a great look for a teammate. Good sign.
On an aside, I know Gibbs-Lawhorn plays with great players at Montverde, but I think playing with Michigan State point guard commit Jeremy Fears is going to be really good for him. With Fears, DGL can play with and without the ball and gain more experience playing alongside on another player who carries a lot of gravity. Fears seems like he's got some real leadership ability and charisma to him, as well, and sometimes that stuff rubs off on others around them.
• Gibbs-Lawhorn points to defense as the area he needs the most improvement and the Team Takeover game validated his comment. Takeover did go after him a bit from a physical perspective and had some success bodying him up and getting to the basket. DGL is getting bigger and stronger — his upper body is very different from last summer — but is probably still needing to learn to play bigger and stronger. And he's not the sort of body type that's ever going to be particularly powerful.
• Some positives in his demeanor. He seemed really engaged with his new team and enjoyed others' success. He's always struck me as a pretty engaging young guy who people like being around.
Long story short, an up-and-down start to the event for Purdue's commitment, but when he was good he was really good, and I'd be surprised If he didn't settle in now and have a really good weekend.
There you go: All that from one grassroots game.
COUPLE MORE THINGS ...
• Purdue is also watching 2024 Brad Beal Elite big man Lathan Sommerville, who visited during the season.
Sommerville scored nine points with six rebounds in front of Painter in his first game.
Big, wide-bodied post player who has a lot of body to throw around and does so. Made a three as well in the game I saw. Not sure it's a strength, but the high-arching shot went in.
• Don't be surprised a bit if Purdue's interest in finding a big man for 2023 doesn't merit some attention for Indy Heat 7-footer Reece Potter of Lexington, Ky. He scored nine points in 11 minutes against Team Takeover and quite honestly, has "Purdue" written all over him.
I don't think anything would be imminent as Purdue keeps chasing Xavier Booker, but maybe down the line. If Potter plays the rest of this spring and into the summer the way he did tonight, he'll have a bunch of offers.
• Painter and Terry Johnson were in Indianapolis tonight, and I think will be again tomorrow. I think Brandon Brantley is in South Carolina for adidas (Cooper Koch, Flory Bidunga, Giccari Harris) and Paul Lusk in Kansas City on JT Rock duty.
I don't know how much Xavier Booker is playing down in Louisville as he has some personal obligations at home this weekend, so Purdue may not need to be down there much. And Myles Colvin is nursing a sore wrist and not really doing much this weekend.
More from Indy tomorrow ...
Anyway, I'm going at the Nike EYBL deal at the Pacers Athletic Center all weekend, with really one player to really see. There are some underclassmen at this thing, but this is my first chance to see Purdue commit Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn since he returned from injury.
I'll do a story on him at some point, but here's our video interview first off.
So here's how his game went today, Gibbs-Lawhorn's first game with Indy Heat after coming off from Vegas Elite, which he'd aligned with while at prep school out in Utah, before he moved to Monteverde in Florida.
Indy Heat beat Team Takeover 88-68, a really impressive win in which it led by 13 at half and then grew the lead in the second. Not bad for a team that looks pretty different from its form during the first EYBL session two weekends ago in Orlando, there having been some personnel changes, most notably Gibbs-Lawhorn replacing the departed Braelon Green.
DGL, as he shall be known here solely for my own convenience, started for Indy Heat and got off to a rough shooting start, missing threes and a couple of runners, but once he settled in, some things fell in place. He finished with 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting, making a pair of threes and getting to the rack a couple of times for creative finishes.
A couple thoughts in bullet-point form since I'm too tired for transitions right now.
• He knows how to score. While he didn't make shots to start this game, he showed his ability to get to his spots for shots against high-level opposition and did show a knack for being able to create space for himself. I do think he may be a little like Jaden Ivey in that he's more a rhythm shooter than a pure on, but this was just one game. But he did seem very comfortable shooting off the dribble.
• For a scoring-minded player, I thought he did a nice job sharing the ball. There was one assist he had on a three for a teammate where the ball came out after either a post outlet or offensive rebound and DGL could have shot it or drive, but turned down the proverbial OK look for himself for a great look for a teammate. Good sign.
On an aside, I know Gibbs-Lawhorn plays with great players at Montverde, but I think playing with Michigan State point guard commit Jeremy Fears is going to be really good for him. With Fears, DGL can play with and without the ball and gain more experience playing alongside on another player who carries a lot of gravity. Fears seems like he's got some real leadership ability and charisma to him, as well, and sometimes that stuff rubs off on others around them.
• Gibbs-Lawhorn points to defense as the area he needs the most improvement and the Team Takeover game validated his comment. Takeover did go after him a bit from a physical perspective and had some success bodying him up and getting to the basket. DGL is getting bigger and stronger — his upper body is very different from last summer — but is probably still needing to learn to play bigger and stronger. And he's not the sort of body type that's ever going to be particularly powerful.
• Some positives in his demeanor. He seemed really engaged with his new team and enjoyed others' success. He's always struck me as a pretty engaging young guy who people like being around.
Long story short, an up-and-down start to the event for Purdue's commitment, but when he was good he was really good, and I'd be surprised If he didn't settle in now and have a really good weekend.
There you go: All that from one grassroots game.
COUPLE MORE THINGS ...
• Purdue is also watching 2024 Brad Beal Elite big man Lathan Sommerville, who visited during the season.
Sommerville scored nine points with six rebounds in front of Painter in his first game.
Big, wide-bodied post player who has a lot of body to throw around and does so. Made a three as well in the game I saw. Not sure it's a strength, but the high-arching shot went in.
• Don't be surprised a bit if Purdue's interest in finding a big man for 2023 doesn't merit some attention for Indy Heat 7-footer Reece Potter of Lexington, Ky. He scored nine points in 11 minutes against Team Takeover and quite honestly, has "Purdue" written all over him.
I don't think anything would be imminent as Purdue keeps chasing Xavier Booker, but maybe down the line. If Potter plays the rest of this spring and into the summer the way he did tonight, he'll have a bunch of offers.
• Painter and Terry Johnson were in Indianapolis tonight, and I think will be again tomorrow. I think Brandon Brantley is in South Carolina for adidas (Cooper Koch, Flory Bidunga, Giccari Harris) and Paul Lusk in Kansas City on JT Rock duty.
I don't know how much Xavier Booker is playing down in Louisville as he has some personal obligations at home this weekend, so Purdue may not need to be down there much. And Myles Colvin is nursing a sore wrist and not really doing much this weekend.
More from Indy tomorrow ...
