It was November of 2017 and Illinois basketball was at a place where no program wants to be. When Lou Henson retired, or Bill Self and Lon Kruger left, or even when Bruce Weber was fired, there was passion, and people cared. But in November of 2017 Illinois basketball had reached a point that no fan ever wants to see. There was apathy. A student section that didn’t know the game. A fanbase that still talked about 1989 and 2005 as if it was yesterday, because they had nothing else to discuss. Empty seats. No midnight madness, because nobody came. And an unknown coach with just 1 year as a head coach at a high major. We were dying. Illini nation needed hope.
Then the 6’5 guard from Chicago had an announcement ceremony and selected the Illini. Ayo Dosunmu picked Illinois when it wasn’t cool to pick Illinois, when nobody else wanted the weight of Illini nation. Nobody wanted the charge to bring Illinois basketball back from the depths of despair. You did.
When you committed to Illinois, fans hailed the negatives. Fan is short for fanatic. Ayo can’t shoot as well as that guy,. He can’t jump as high as this guy. He’s overrated. He won’t get those shots in college. Why don’t more bluebloods want him? A cynical fanbase had found a reason to doubt.
When you led your team to a state title they questioned you. How will his game translate?
What they didn’t know was that any holes in your game, you would fix. You would find a way. You had the work ethic. You had the desire. The heart, the toughness. I mean you name it, it was all there. The intangibles were present.
Then, you endured a 21 loss Freshman season. If losing builds character, Illini fans and players have a ton of it after last season. After the last 7 seasons. At the end of the year, people felt the doom and gloom of a long season of losses, and they needed a win. You gave us that first win on April 18, 2019. You told us that you had ‘unfinished business’. Oh boy, did you ever. There was hope, finally. Thank you for that hope.
That hope carried into this season. The 2019-20 season didn’t end as anyone expected. We didn’t get to see a magical run orchestrated by clutch shot maker Ayo Dosunmu in the NCAA tourney. But you gave Illini fans a future.
There were so many moments. Thank you for the dagger 3 pointer at Wisconsin that sparked the fire. Thank you for the second half orchestration of shooting and offense at Purdue. Thank you for the buzzer beater at Michigan. The second half at Penn State and the left hand drive for a floater. Oh yeah, he can’t go left either. The two pull up daggers to beat Iowa. The free throws to clinch against Indiana. Even last season, the ‘This isn’t going to end well’ 3 pointer against Michigan State. It was fun, man. A legion of young fans now have #11 jerseys, but instead of the old, tattered jersey of Dee Brown, they are wearing Ayo jerseys. The one man fast break now has someone to run alongside him in Illini lore.
Illinois basketball matters again.
It caused a spark. The State Farm Center was sold out. Tickets were going for enormous prices. But we couldn’t sell them, because we had to see it. We had to witness the renaissance of Illinois basketball. The Orange Krush was back. They knew the game. They knew who the players were. They ridiculed Fran with a ‘FranCon’ meter. They made fun of little Archie. It was great. They saw what Illinois basketball can be. They saw what Illinois basketball once was. They saw hope. They saw what their parents had talked about. They saw what the magic of 2005 was like and the amazing Flyin' Illini of 89. The whiz kids. The list goes on, but these kids saw what it can be. Now they know. They saw it. They felt it. Hell, they lived it.
You led the Illini to an NCAA berth, the first in 7 years. Despite the fact that they won’t play the tournament and we won’t hear that name called on selection Sunday, we know. Greg Gumbel says it.
“The 6 seed in St. Louis, the Fighting Illini from Illinois. Back in the tournament for the first time since 2013. Led by Ayo Dosunmu.”
We heard it, even if we couldn’t hear it.
If this was the last time we saw you in an Illinois uniform, we will remember the fast breaks as well. ‘Ayo in transition’, Brian Barnhart almost didn’t have time to say it before you were scoring or getting fouled at the other end of the floor. A finisher. A closer. It was exciting.
Your name now echoes with the Illini legends. Dee Brown. Deron Williams and Luther Head. Nick Anderson, Kenny Battle and Kendall Gill. The Whiz Kids. Eddie Johnson and Mark Smith (the real Mark Smith). Dave Downey. Red Kerr. It’s a long list, but perhaps it is more like a combination of Levi Cobb and Deon Thomas. A guy that broke a barrier and a guy that stayed through adversity all rolled into one.
March 12, 2020 is ‘Black Thursday’ for college basketball fans as a whole, and especially Illini fans as they found after 7 years of disappointment and no NCAA tourney action, there would be no tourney in 2020. But they had this season, all because of the decision you made in November of 2017. My favorite poet is a guy named Robert Frost. And I think back to the last stanza of his most famous poem.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Thanks for taking that road, Ayo. Thanks for giving Illini Nation hope.
Then the 6’5 guard from Chicago had an announcement ceremony and selected the Illini. Ayo Dosunmu picked Illinois when it wasn’t cool to pick Illinois, when nobody else wanted the weight of Illini nation. Nobody wanted the charge to bring Illinois basketball back from the depths of despair. You did.
When you committed to Illinois, fans hailed the negatives. Fan is short for fanatic. Ayo can’t shoot as well as that guy,. He can’t jump as high as this guy. He’s overrated. He won’t get those shots in college. Why don’t more bluebloods want him? A cynical fanbase had found a reason to doubt.
When you led your team to a state title they questioned you. How will his game translate?
What they didn’t know was that any holes in your game, you would fix. You would find a way. You had the work ethic. You had the desire. The heart, the toughness. I mean you name it, it was all there. The intangibles were present.
Then, you endured a 21 loss Freshman season. If losing builds character, Illini fans and players have a ton of it after last season. After the last 7 seasons. At the end of the year, people felt the doom and gloom of a long season of losses, and they needed a win. You gave us that first win on April 18, 2019. You told us that you had ‘unfinished business’. Oh boy, did you ever. There was hope, finally. Thank you for that hope.
That hope carried into this season. The 2019-20 season didn’t end as anyone expected. We didn’t get to see a magical run orchestrated by clutch shot maker Ayo Dosunmu in the NCAA tourney. But you gave Illini fans a future.
There were so many moments. Thank you for the dagger 3 pointer at Wisconsin that sparked the fire. Thank you for the second half orchestration of shooting and offense at Purdue. Thank you for the buzzer beater at Michigan. The second half at Penn State and the left hand drive for a floater. Oh yeah, he can’t go left either. The two pull up daggers to beat Iowa. The free throws to clinch against Indiana. Even last season, the ‘This isn’t going to end well’ 3 pointer against Michigan State. It was fun, man. A legion of young fans now have #11 jerseys, but instead of the old, tattered jersey of Dee Brown, they are wearing Ayo jerseys. The one man fast break now has someone to run alongside him in Illini lore.
Illinois basketball matters again.
It caused a spark. The State Farm Center was sold out. Tickets were going for enormous prices. But we couldn’t sell them, because we had to see it. We had to witness the renaissance of Illinois basketball. The Orange Krush was back. They knew the game. They knew who the players were. They ridiculed Fran with a ‘FranCon’ meter. They made fun of little Archie. It was great. They saw what Illinois basketball can be. They saw what Illinois basketball once was. They saw hope. They saw what their parents had talked about. They saw what the magic of 2005 was like and the amazing Flyin' Illini of 89. The whiz kids. The list goes on, but these kids saw what it can be. Now they know. They saw it. They felt it. Hell, they lived it.
You led the Illini to an NCAA berth, the first in 7 years. Despite the fact that they won’t play the tournament and we won’t hear that name called on selection Sunday, we know. Greg Gumbel says it.
“The 6 seed in St. Louis, the Fighting Illini from Illinois. Back in the tournament for the first time since 2013. Led by Ayo Dosunmu.”
We heard it, even if we couldn’t hear it.
If this was the last time we saw you in an Illinois uniform, we will remember the fast breaks as well. ‘Ayo in transition’, Brian Barnhart almost didn’t have time to say it before you were scoring or getting fouled at the other end of the floor. A finisher. A closer. It was exciting.
Your name now echoes with the Illini legends. Dee Brown. Deron Williams and Luther Head. Nick Anderson, Kenny Battle and Kendall Gill. The Whiz Kids. Eddie Johnson and Mark Smith (the real Mark Smith). Dave Downey. Red Kerr. It’s a long list, but perhaps it is more like a combination of Levi Cobb and Deon Thomas. A guy that broke a barrier and a guy that stayed through adversity all rolled into one.
March 12, 2020 is ‘Black Thursday’ for college basketball fans as a whole, and especially Illini fans as they found after 7 years of disappointment and no NCAA tourney action, there would be no tourney in 2020. But they had this season, all because of the decision you made in November of 2017. My favorite poet is a guy named Robert Frost. And I think back to the last stanza of his most famous poem.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Thanks for taking that road, Ayo. Thanks for giving Illini Nation hope.
