CHAMPAIGN — In Champaign, Ayo Dosunmu is among the most popular Illinois basketball players ever following an All-American college career. But his Q rating may now be even higher in his hometown of Chicago.
After an NBA All-Rookie season last year, the second-round draft pick begins his second NBA season on Wednesday as the Bulls starting point guard in place of injured starter Lonzo Ball — and as someone with the cachet to headline a speaking event alongside former U.S. president Barack Obama.
Yet, when Brad Underwood visited The Advocate Center, the Chicago Bulls practice facility, last month, the Illini head coach didn’t hear anything about a tough-to-handle superstar personal. He heard nothing but praise about the player who changed everything for his Illinois basketball program.
“To walk in and hear [Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations] Arturas [Karnisovas] and to hear [Bulls general manager] Marc [Eversley] and to hear [Bulls head coach] Billy [Donovan] and all those people talk about how much they like him, you can’t ask for anything more, not just as a player but for what he’s established as his work ethic and how he’s gotten there,” Underwood said with a tear welling in his eye. “Pretty proud of him.”
Dosunmu, who tips off his sophomore NBA season with the Bulls in Miami on Wednesday, is almost two years removed from Champaign, but his impact on Illini athletics — not just Illinois basketball — is still very much felt.
He and two-time All-American center Kofi Cockburn — along with the likes of Andres Feliz, Trent Frazier, Da’Monte Williams, Jacob Grandison, etc. — helped lead Illinois basketball’s current revival from a bottom-half Big Ten program for most of a decade into a Big Ten power again. While the Illini still haven’t advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in 17 years, Illinois is the winningest Big Ten program during the last three seasons (44-16) to go along with a Big Ten Tournament championship (2021) and Big Ten regular-season championship (2022).
Dosunmu, who in 2018 was the highest-ranked in-state prospect to sign with Illinois since Jereme Richmond and Meyers Leonard in 2011, was the on-court and off-court impetus behind the Illini’s rebirth, though Illinois suffered more losses during his freshman season than any in Illinois basketball history. But Dosunmu notched back-to-back All-Big Ten First seasons and with an improved supporting cast behind him as a sophomore and junior — particularly Cockburn — Illinois notched back-to-back 20-plus win seasons and top-four Big Ten finishes. That impact is still felt on the court as Cockburn led Illinois to its first Big Ten regular-season championship in 17 years last season, and on Monday, Illinois was voted No. 23 in the AP Top 25 and last week was voted to finish second in the Big Ten by a media poll.
Dosunmu’s success also has been instrumental in Illinois becoming one of the Big Ten’s best recruiting programs. Cockburn said he picked Illinois in large part due to the opportunity to play with Dosunmu. While both have since transferred, Andre Curbelo and Adam Miller probably don’t sign with Illinois without Dosunmu’s early success leading the team. Top-40 Class of 2022 prospect and likely Illini starting point guard Skyy Clark said Dosunmu’s success gave him a blueprint for what he could accomplish at Illinois.
“Ayo, he had a huge impact [on my recruitment] seeing his career,” Clark told Illini Inquirer. “Before I committed, I watched a lot of his film. Coach Tim [Anderson] and Coach Underwood, they showed me some of his film when I took my visit. Just the fact that I saw him and what he did here, I could do the same thing. It was perfect.”
Dosunmu also has become a rallying cry for other Illini sports. Last year, Bret Bielema said he was “looking for that Ayo,” an in-state prospect who could similarly help revive Illinois football. That was a big part of the pitch to four-star Class of 2023 Atwood (Ill.) running back Kaden Feagin, who committed to Illinois last March, and continues to be the No. 18-ranked Illini’s pitch to top in-state prospects like four-star Kankakee defensive back Jyaire Hill.
Illinois women’s basketball coach Shauna Green said she uses the Dosunmu example in her pitch to in-state prospects. Underwood said he recently recorded a video to send to an Illinois softball in-state recruiting target, and he pitched Dosunmu’s impact on the in-state program.
“It’s all about Ayo. That’s huge,” Underwood said. “That’s bigger than our program or any program. That’s what this thing is about. They should use Ayo. It makes me feel great. Because listen, winning’s fun. …Winning’s fun, but you’ve got to have those key people that do it.
“That’s what Bret’s in the process of building, what Shauna’s going to get built. You have to have people you look back on and you tear up when you talk about them and you know the importance because you know the value that they have on your program and the impact that they have on your program. The fact that he’s from the state helps. They’re trying to do that same thing. It’s not easy. It’s really hard to win. It takes the right character and the right piece.”
Dosunmu’s likeness is plastered on the wall of the Illini men’s basketball practice gym in the freshly renovated Ubben Basketball Complex (the house that Ayo built?). Dosunmu, who often cited his development at Illinois for his rookie season success, saw it when he came down to Champaign late in the summer to shoot some commercials, him being a celebrity and all.
“He’s almost tearing up,” Underwood said of Dosunmu’s reaction.
But what made Dosunmu great at Illinois and what seems to make him great in the NBA is that Dosunmu didn’t fawn too much over the notoriety. He was appreciative but not satisfied. So Dosunmu quickly found his orange shoes and got a workout in. After all, winning takes work.
While Dosunmu has graduated to bigger and better things, that legacy continues to make an impact in Champaign.
“Ayo’s a rock star,” Underwood said. “I mean not just as a player or because he’s starting for an NBA team. I’m saying that because of what he’s become, how he’s gotten there and his love for Illinois. Most kids think say the right things in the recruiting process and they tell you guys all what they think you want to hear, ‘I love Illinois; I want to take care of my home schools.’ That’s real. That’s real with Ayo.”
