Underwood’s challenge to Ayo Dosunmu: Speak Up

Ayo Dosunmu's leadership role in Illinois' 2019-20 season begins by being much more vocal.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Brad Underwood says he starts every season with a challenge to each player on his roster and the task for his most acclaimed talent is simple.

Ayo Dosunmu can no longer speak softly and carry a big stick but yet the Illini third-year coach is pressing the leading scorer from last season with a two-word demand: Speak up.

The sophomore point guard is being told in every practice session, scrimmage and will continue to be stressed with the idea that he can no longer be a silent participant when games start on Nov. 1 with an exhibition contest vs. Division II Lewis University.

“Quiet teams lose,” Underwood said on Oct. 11 during the team media day. “For those of you who have ever watched an NBA team in a shoot-around or practice, you know what I’m talking about. Quiet teams lose.”

Dosunmu was the first true freshman in school history to lead the Illini in scoring average for a season (13.8 points per game) by recording the fourth-best scoring average by a freshman in Illini history. However, the former five-star prospect from Morgan Park High School in Chicago was clearly not comfortable in his first season being a leader on a team despite the Illini only having two four-year players on the roster (Aaron Jordan and Kipper Nichols). For Illinois to take on the preseason NCAA Tournament expectations this squad has inherited and for Dosunmu to acquire an even better scouting rating from professional franchises, Underwood knows the quiet freshman must leave the building to make way for the emergence of a loud sophomore leader.

“Ayo is a player that is extremely talented and there’s no doubt he needs to become not just a quiet leader but a vocal leader. That responsibility is big.” - Illinois head coach Brad Underwood

Dosunmu said on Oct. 11 that this role would be pressed upon him immediately after he made the decision to return to school after flirting with the NBA Draft last summer. Dosunmu was a leader in high school who averaged 25.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 2.7 steals as a senior while leading Morgan Park to a second-straight Illinois High School Activities Association Class 3A championship. However, even on that extremely talented team, Dosunmu did more leading with his play on the court and less with his mouth on and off the floor.

“After my junior year when we won state, we came back with similar hype as this team now, being one of the best teams in the league and being expected to do a lot of things,” Dosunmu said. “The main key is staying focused, staying together, keeping our eye on the prize and not focusing on anything else.”

In his second season with the Illini, the silent character simply won’t do for Underwood.

“If I see something, I need to say it so others will follow and do it the right way,” Dosunmu said. “Also, if my teammates need some confidence, I need to be there for them like I know they’re there for me. That’s what leaders do.”

Dosunmu has publicly accepted and relished the idea of having home state ownership in personally trying to bring back an Illinois basketball program to national that hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2014. The Illini haven’t won a Big Ten regular-season championship since Dosunmu turned five years old and haven’t won an NCAA Tournament game since Dosunmu became a teenager.

“I’m playing for Illinois, that’s my state. I was born and raised there,” Dosunmu said. “When my kids or my grandkids come around, I want them to see like, ‘Oh yeah, he left his legacy there.’”

Underwood is preaching to the 6-foot-5 guard that he “needs to know what everybody on the court does” and if things break down either in a practice or game, there’s no need to wonder who will be part of that blame.

“That’s on him to make sure they get right,” Underwood said. “That’s a lot of responsibility but that comes with the deal.”

Giorgi Bezhanishvili, who emerged from the 2018 recruiting class Dosunmu highlighted, says he’s already seen evidence of the point guard’s leadership in preseason workouts and in the handful of full-team practices already.

“Ayo is our leader and last year we kind of knew it but nobody said it, this year he’s saying it, showing it and personally, I love it,” Bezhanishvili said. “I can remember once already we’re all sitting in the locker room and there was a piece of tape on the floor. Ayo comes over and it wasn’t tape off his body but he picks it up, puts it in the trash and then says ‘guys, this is our home, so keep it clean’. He wouldn’t have done that last year just like I wouldn’t have as a freshman or new player. Stuff like that brings out a new culture and leadership in our group.”