Ayo Dosunmu didn’t exactly arrive at Illinois ready to embrace the move. At first, he was hesitant. But by the time his three-year run in Champaign was over, the Chicago native had helped reshape the way the program was viewed and built a legacy that now includes a spot in Illinois’ 2026 Hall of Fame class.
“I think I made the best decision of my life coming here.”
Dosunmu said one of the biggest reasons he chose Illinois was simple: he wanted to help push the program back onto the national stage. He felt that, for Chicago players at the time, Illinois wasn’t considered the kind of place you had to be.
“When I committed to Illinois, no disrespect to the greats or the players before me, but in my opinion, it wasn’t cool, like it wasn’t looked upon to come to Illinois if you were from Chicago,” Dosunmu said. “It just was a different time, and I’m just blessed to be a part of the change.”
That change is visible in the talent Illinois has brought in since Dosunmu left. Terrence Shannon Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, Will Riley and Keaton Wagler have all come through, with former Illini now doing well in the NBA.
Dosunmu sees the bigger picture in that evolution.
“It’s not just about these three to four years, one to two years,” Dosunmu said. “It’s about the ten years after that, what place can you leave a legacy?”
For him, that legacy was built on work and on the people around him. He pointed to the 5 a.m. practices, the tough love from Brad Underwood, the relationships he formed and the Champaign community as all part of what made the experience matter so much.
“Champaign, it has a special place in my heart, because it helped change my life, and it’s a huge part of my life, the relationships that I’ve built here,” Dosunmu said. “The coaching staff, the whole camaraderie of just the university, from the AD to each and every one to the managers, it means something to me.”
He also said he wants to keep giving back to the city that gave him so much.
“I can just continue to give back to the community, do some camps out here, just be involved in different areas of aspects, just that money naturally can’t buy,” Dosunmu said.
Underwood, Dosunmu said, had a major hand in his development. The relationship went beyond basketball, from lunches together to the kind of coaching that pushed him every day. Dosunmu said that approach fit him.
“Brad probably had a top five impact on my career, I would say. His tough love is definitely number one,” Dosunmu said.
“He always was trying to maximize my full potential. And when you get to the NBA, and you get in different positions, I’ve seen Coach Underwood, so there’s nothing worse I can see.”
Now 26, Dosunmu is taking in just how quickly everything has happened. The Hall of Fame honor, the $100 million contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the rest of the ride still feel a little surreal to him. Even walking through the iHotel rooms where the team used to stay before games brought back memories.
“It’s something I can’t take for granted because this is a dream,” Dosunmu said. “If I would’ve told you when I committed, 2018, that in eight years, you would have your jersey retired, you would be a part of one of the best Illinois teams, you would get drafted to the NBA, and then you would sign the $100 million plus contract while being inducted into the Hall of Fame, like, sign me up fast.”
In Other News...
Illinois Blew A Winnable Game And Exposed Two Big Problems
Illinois had a chance to take control of a non-conference game against Duke and instead left with a 31-27 loss that raised familiar questions about where this team can lean when the pressure rises. The defense gave up enough to keep Duke in striking distance all afternoon, while the offense had moments that looked promising, including a strong outing from receiver Collin Dixon, but not enough sustained execution to turn a winnable game into a finished one.
The fourth quarter is where the frustration really settled in, as Illinois' play calling never quite matched the urgency of the moment and Duke quarterback Walker Eget kept the Blue Devils composed when the game tightened. For a team trying to establish itself early in the season, the loss was more than a missed opportunity - it exposed two problems that will linger until Illinois shows it can clean them up. [Read more 🡒]
Illinois Fans Already Have A Real Concern With Bobby Hauck
Illinois came out of the Duke game with the kind of defensive questions that tend to linger longer than a single loss. The Blue Devils did much of their damage on the ground, with Nate Sheppard carving up Illinois for 167 rushing yards, adding 41 more as a receiver and finding the end zone three times in a 31-27 result that exposed some familiar issues for the Illini.
Under coordinator Bobby Hauck and his 3-3-5 scheme, Illinois has already shown trouble with tackling and limiting the run, and early-season opponents have been able to take advantage. That is a manageable concern in September, but it becomes a much bigger one once Big Ten play arrives, when every missed stop and every open lane tends to carry even more weight. [Read more 🡒]
Illinois Defense Keeps Coming Back To One Alarming Weekly Problem
Illinois has lived on the edge defensively this season, and the same concern keeps surfacing every week: the Illini are far more likely to win when their defense can take the ball away. In recent years, that kind of disruption has been a defining part of their identity, turning decent outings into comfortable ones and giving the offense shorter fields and more margin for error.
Without those turnovers, the defense has had a much harder time covering up its other issues, and the record has reflected it. For Illinois, the takeaway is increasingly hard to ignore: if the defense is not creating extra possessions, the whole operation gets a lot more fragile, which is why this one recurring problem has become so central to the season. [Read more 🡒]