By Amanda Scurlock for The LA Sentinel
Originally published Sept. 30, 2026
King/Drew senior Honesty Gilmore helped the Golden Eagles to an undefeated record in Coliseum League play last season. Her efforts helped King/Drew reach the CIF City Section Open Division playoffs and the Division III State Championship.
The 2025-2026 season marked her second year competing on the varsity level. Transitioning to varsity did not come without challenges for Gilmore.
“I had low confidence, so when I played [varsity], it was like a bigger title,” Gilmore said. “It made me feel like my confidence, I had to build it up to be able to play how I knew I could play.”
Last season, she had to work on her maturity to mentor her freshmen teammates. This helped her improve her leadership skills.
“It showed me how the freshmen are and how sometimes they need somebody to look after them and to lead them the right way,” Gilmore said.
Through her coaches, she learned to give her best effort during every game and to not get in her head. Gilmore improved on her dribbling abilities and her ability to control her moods.
Gilmore knows that being a student athlete means getting good grades comes first. Her favorite class is Algebra Two. While it means a lot to her to be a student athlete, she admits that it is “really challenging.”
“It’s hard juggling classes and having to play basketball. We don’t get home until late at night,” she said. “We have study hall, I have to make sure that I don’t procrastinate and actually do my work in study hall so I can maintain the grades that I have.”
Gilmore has been playing basketball since she was 10 years old.
“I chose basketball because growing up, I have a lot of brothers, so they played,” she said. “It was something I liked, so I tried it out and I’ve been playing ever since.”
A challenging moment for Gilmore was during her freshman year when her relationship with the varsity squad thwarted her basketball career.
“I didn’t get along with the varsity players,” Gilmore said. “I couldn’t play varsity because I didn’t really get along with them.”
Gilmore aspires to get into college and earn an academic scholarship.