Sophia has been great for this IGB team, offering them a more traditional interior presence to go with their long and athletic wings/forwards. At the same time, at her size, she moves well all over the floor, and she extends to the mid-post nicely to clear space for drivers. She can score it herself inside or facing the basket, and she is an active pursuing rebounder. She also uses her height and length to affect a lot of shots defensively.

Gibson’s recruitment has really picked up in the last year and after a strong high school season, she’s poised and ready to open even more eyes this AAU season with IGB 17U GUAA. In her junior season at Notre Dame Academy, she averaged a team-high 13.1 PPG and 7.8 RPG while also shooting a team-best 52.4% from the field. Gibson is a high IQ player with great size who holds multiple offers, including from Ivy League schools. While I think college coaches will be very impressed by what she brings to the court, I think they’ll be even more impressed by the potential she shows as they watch the ways she’s improved in the last year.

Gibson entered this game fresh of off scoring a career-high 28 points against Simon Kenton. She ran the floor well and got rewarded with transition layups. Gibson used her length effectively to rip down rebounds and to block and alter shots, making it difficult for Douglass to score inside. Gibson also showed some pretty post moves scoring with her back toward the basket. She finished the game with 10 points and 5 rebounds.

Gibson was the second leading scorer behind Noelle Hubert last season and is more than ready to step into the spotlight as a Junior. Gibson provides a steady interior presence as well as being an above average rebounder and shot blocker. When Sophia fully unlocks her skill set, she projects as a face up 5 who can comfortably stretch out to the three point line.

If I had to pick a player in advance that I felt would make a huge jump in their junior season, it would be Gibson. I say that because she already has the skills but should play a much larger role in Notre Dame’s offense next season. This past season, they had one of the top 2023 players on their roster and she averaged about 14 shot attempts per game. As the 2^nd leading scorer, I feel like Gibson is poised to step in and replace some of that scoring. I also feel as if she is going to improve on her already impressive overall game this Summer as she is playing for a very talented IGB 17U UAA team.

Gibson is another mobile center. She uses her length to block shots game-in and game-out, but she does a great job of moving to avoid being posted up as a defender as well. She can come from behind to grab steals or she can get out into the passing lanes to grab them. Gibson is strong offensively as well. She posts up strong and can finish at the rim, but she also recognizes when help steps over and does a great job of getting the ball to her teammates. Many have thought that it would take some time for Notre Dame to re-group after graduating 7 players last season, but they are off to a 3-0 start and Gibson has more than doubled her averages from last season early on. She should have a really big sophomore season ahead.

Lacey Bradshaw had a long and successful career for the Pandas and Sophia has more long term upside than most prospects in the 2025 class thanks to her elite height. She’s still working on getting stronger and more consistent around the rim but Gibson has the physical tools that will have D1 coaches rolling through the NDA gym for the next few years.