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Ayo is making us all very proud

Dosunmu got his first NBA start Monday night.

By Stephen Cohn
NBA: Denver Nuggets at Chicago Bulls Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

We have wrote this very exact column several times since Ayo Dosunmu was drafted in the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls.

But this time it feels a little different.

In his first career start Monday night against the Nuggets, Dosunmu played a game-high 42 minutes and scored 11 points. He also added eight assists and six rebounds, aka a very Ayo Dosunmu statline.

Here’s how he reportedly found out he was starting Monday.

Sounds about right.

You’re telling me THIS guy was the 38th best player in this year’s draft class?

And that doesn’t even tell the whole story.

It’s what he said after the game that just makes him more impressive — and makes us, as Illini fans, even more proud.

“I’m just trying to use my instincts,” Dosunmu told the NBCSN broadcast after the game. “Having been at Illinois for three years, the whole coaching staff they instilled in me playing defense.”

And then in the locker room, he tweeted about not just his win, but Illinois’ win on the road at Iowa earlier in the night.

And in meeting with the media, he got a chance to acknowledge the significance of him being introduced as “FROM CHICAGO” in the startling lineups (of course, by the wonderful and magnificent Tim Sinclair).

All in all, it was the perfect night for Ayo Dosunmu and the Illinois Basketball brand. These types of wins — with players in the NBA and with the current team once again trending toward the top of the Big Ten — are the signs we needed to see from Brad Underwood after a bumpy start to his tenure in Champaign.

But more than that, I think I speak for all of us when I say Ayo is just making us proud.

And the fact he’s getting to do it in his home city on a winning team, well, it doesn’t get much better than that.