UNLV transfer guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn commits to Texas Tech

UNLV star transfer guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn has committed to Texas Tech, On3’s Joe Tipton has confirmed. The news was first reported by CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.

Gibbs-Lawhorn is coming off a junior campaign at UNLV where he led the Mountain West in scoring at 20.7 points per game. The 6’1 guard also averaged 3.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists to help lead the Runnin’ Rebels to an 18-17 record and a trip to the NIT in Josh Pastner’s first year at the helm.

His next stop in Lubbock will complete a winding basketball journey over the past eight years. Gibbs-Lawhorn was enrolled at four different high schools before signing to play at Illinois as a four-star recruit in the 2023 class. And even prior to inking with the Illini, he was previously committed to Purdue before backing out of that decision.

He spent his first two years at the college level with Brad Underwood and Co., playing in 63 games — 61 of which he came off the bench. In that span, he averaged 4.3 points per game but was limited to just 11.4 minutes per contest.

After last season, he transferred to UNLV and exploded onto the scene as one of the country’s premier scorers. His 724 total points last season ranked No. 12 nationally and tops in the Mountain West. Gibbs-Lawhorn scored 30-plus points on six separate occasions. And he poured in at least 20 points 18 different times.

Gibbs-Lawhorn was one of CBB’s elite scorers

While he did most of his damage against mid-major competition in league play, Gibbs-Lawhorn showed out against Alabama in November with 25 points on 9 of 19 shooting. He was one of the lone bright spots for the Rebels that day in a 115-76 loss.

Arguably the most impressive part of his 2025-26 season wasn’t just his pure scoring numbers, but how efficiently he did it. Across the team’s 35 games, he shot 49.7% from the field, 41.4% from behind the arc and 83.8% from the free throw line. According to BartTorvik, he was one of only 12 players across all of Division I basketball to put up those numbers with a usage rate of over 25%.

He’ll be counted on to continue that in Lubbock, with the Red Raiders replacing projected first-round pick Christian Anderson, a third-team All-American last season. Tech will also be playing without star forward JT Toppin for an extended period of time after a knee injury cost him the final nine games of the season.

Grant McCasland and Co. are loading up on guards this portal cycle though, bringing in Wyoming transfer Damarion Dennis and Hofstra’s Damarion Dennis. Those two, along with Gibbs-Lawhorn, will give the Red Raiders one of the Big 12’s most dynamic backcourts.