‘First I need that national championship’

CHICAGO — Illinois basketball’s greatest player will be back again.

In an unpredicted shift, Ayo Dosunmu introduced Friday night that he’s withdrawing from the NBA draft and will return to Champaign for his junior year.

Dosunmu’s spouse and children had claimed immediately after the year ended abruptly in March because of the coronavirus pandemic that he was nearly certain he would remain in the draft. His father stated Dosunmu experienced tiny remaining to confirm at the university degree after a prosperous sophomore time.

In a 1 1/2 moment online video on Twitter posted Friday evening, Dosunmu reported he would be back for “Year 3? regardless of his desire of participating in in the NBA.

“First I require that nationwide championship,” he explained at the end of the spectacular video clip.

The Illini finished just a person activity out of very first spot in the Major Ten, shy of a objective Dosunmu had established. The media named him 1st-team All-Conference.

Averaging 16.6 details and capturing 48.4%, the 6-foot-5 guard shined all over the season with clutch performances. Right after finishing 12-21 overall and 7-13 in the Significant 10 in 2018-19, the Illini went 21-10 overall with a 13-7 meeting mark.

He reportedly was invited to the NBA draft combine. Underclassmen had until eventually Monday to withdraw their names.

Illinois is ready to see if large male Kofi Cockburn also will withdraw from the draft. He is not listed on most mock draft boards.

Dosunmu was not a certain-shot draftee either, but he had said he assumed he would show himself in eventual routines for teams.

For the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, likely draftees dealt with unprecedented uncertainty and confined get hold of with NBA groups as workout routines were prohibited and video interview occasions ended up minimal. Dates frequently shifted for the incorporate and draft, and faculties also have been in limbo for months before teams made the decision when players could return to campus for exercise sessions.

Dosunmu, a Morgan Park High School graduate, experienced been performing out in his hometown of Chicago.

Due to the fact the working day he fully commited to Illinois as a substantial college senior, Dosunmu has publicly stated his intentions of leaving Illinois before exhausting eligibility. He examined the NBA waters soon after his freshman season way too.

Tale carries on

Dosunmu rapidly grew into a lover favourite in Champaign immediately after so numerous many others from Chicago had spurned them in new years. His outspoken adoration of the school’s basketball tradition and his tough-nosed participate in only extra to his legacy.

Right after Illinois beat Iowa 78-76 in the typical-period finale, Dosunmu remained on the Condition Farm Centre court docket more time than any player as admirers cheered. Many expected it to be his closing times as a player on that courtroom.

But he now has a prospect to make a lot more recollections.

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