Purdue's the first offer for local guard Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn
Not surprisingly, Purdue extended a scholarship offer Thursday to Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn, becoming the first offer for the promising Class of 2023 guard from McCutcheon High School in near-by Lafayette.
"Getting an offer from Purdue, it being my very first offer, it was amazing," Gibbs-Lawhorn said Thursday evening. "I'm certainly blessed to get an offer from them, especially for it to be my first one. Purdue's a Big Ten powerhouse, and I wasn't really expecting that to be my very first offer.
"It's just crazy to see your dreams start to come true."
Whether it was Purdue or someone else, Gibbs-Lawhorn's wait for the offers to come in was never going to be a long one.
This summer's dysfunction during the pandemic denied him and every player in the country their chances to play on a national circuit, but the 6-foot-1 scoring guard previously averaged about 21 points per game for the Mavericks as just a freshman, putting him on the radar of programs all over. Kansas, Indiana, Louisville and Xavier are just some of those who've shown interest already, and Duke may be looking already, as well.
Turned out, it was the near-by Boilermakers who came through first for the versatile and creative scoring guard, perhaps an important move on the front end of a recruitment that figures to be highly competitive.
Purdue's had Gibbs-Lawhorn on campus at least twice, including its elite camp late last summer, and Coach Matt Painter attended at least one of his games during his freshman season. Gibbs-Lawhorn said that he's come to know several of Purdue's players.
Purdue's probably been the most active in recruiting Gibbs-Lawhorn in the infancy of the process and obviously the first to go so far as to offer already, but this could be a long process for a player who's only going to be a high school sophomore this coming year.
"I think I'll be the sort of guy who'll just worry about (recruiting) later on," Gibbs-Lawhorn said. "Right now I'm just worried about high school basketball, getting my team as far as I can. I'll probably start to wonder more about where I'll g next year, during my junior year."
Gibbs-Lawhorn was one of two Class of 2023 prospects offered by Purdue this week, joining Ohio guard Lawrent Rice.
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