D’Moi Hodge Signs with Los Angeles Lakers

D’Moi Hodge became the second Missouri Tiger to join an NBA franchise on Thursday night, signing with the Los Angeles Lakers following the 2023 NBA Draft.

Hodge joins teammate Kobe Brown in Los Angeles as Brown was selected in the first round (No. 30 overall) by the Clippers on Thursday.

Among the national leaders in several categories, Hodge enjoyed tremendous success in his one season at Mizzou and helped the Tigers to one of their most successful campaigns in years during the 2022-23 season.

The guard finished second on the team with 14.7 points per game, while establishing a new school record with 91 steals and becoming the fifth Tiger to connect on 100 3-pointers in a single season. His 91 swipes surpassed the previous school record by 15 and rank as the sixth-most in SEC history. Overall, Hodge placed fourth nationally with 2.60 steals per game, 32nd with 2.86 triples per game and 37th with a three-point clip of 40.0.

A native of the British Virgin Islands, Hodge was named a finalist for the Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year, while being named to the SEC All-Tournament Team. Hodge, who spent his first two Division I season with Mizzou’s Whitten Family Men’s Basketball Head Coach Dennis Gates at Cleveland State, is now one step closer to becoming the first player from the British Virgin Islands to appear in an NBA game.

Hodge helped lead Mizzou to a successful season during the 2022-23 campaign. The Tigers finished with 25 victories – their most in 11 seasons – while claiming their first NCAA Tournament victory in 13 years and advancing to the SEC Tournament Semifinals for the first time in school history.