Ayo & Illini Seniors End College Careers in Forgetful Fashion

Following a 71-58 loss to No. 8 Loyola Chicago in the second round of the NCAA tournament, the final college game of the Illini seniors and the program’s best player won’t be remembered fondly.

In a season they all called their “last dance”, Ayo Dosunmu and his Illinois senior teammates ended their careers with an unremarkable showing.

In a stunningly awful performance Sunday during its 71-58 loss to No. 8 Loyola Chicago in the second round of the NCAA tournament, the final game of some of these seniors and the program’s best player won’t be remembered fondly.

Dosunmu, the program’s first player to win a national player of the year award (USA Today) since Dee Brown was selected by The Sporting News in 2005, was unable to find any offensive rhythm as his consecutive games streak of double-digit performances stopped at 42 against Loyola’s hounding defense. Dosunmu, who has announced his intention to leave Illinois for the upcoming NBA draft, finished his final collegiate game just 4 of 10 with only two rebounds and only two assists in 37 minutes.

Illinois Fighting Illini guard Ayo Dosunmu (11) and Loyola Ramblers guard Keith Clemons (5) embrace after their game in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Loyola Ramblers won 71-58 :: Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports

Dosunmu, who was the only player in Division I college basketball over the last 11 seasons to average at least 20 points, six rebounds and five assists, had a season-high six turnovers in the second round loss and was beaten several times on the defensive end for back cut layups.

“At the end of the day I'm disappointed in myself. I'm disappointed in the way I played,” Dosunmu said. “I don't think I played to my standards. I don't think I played nowhere near how I wanted to play to help my team win. I understand that.”

Dosunmu, who is one of the few players in school history to go through a Senior Day celebration at State Farm Center without being a four-year player, was a first-team All-America selection by USA Today, the United States Basketball Writers Association and Associated Press. However, on Sunday, it was his Chicago native rival and friend on the opposing sideline that outplayed him in nearly every conceivable way. Loyola senior guard Lucas Williamson ended the contest with 14 points and the Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year held Dosunmu to 4 of 10 shooting. Williamson and Dosunmu played on the same small fry league basketball team in Chicago years ago as elementary school players. The two then competed against each other in high school as rivals in the Chicago Public League with Dosunmu attending Morgan Park and Williams playing at Whitney Young.

“I definitely felt like I let my team down today, but I can take it. I can take the criticism." - Illinois All-American guard Ayo Dosunmu 

The last time Dosunmu was held under double digits in scoring and Illinois (24-7) lost the basketball game was the Big Ten Conference opener last season when the Illini fell 59-58 at Maryland on Dec. 7, 2019.

In his video announcing his return to Illinois for his junior season, Dosunmu set the expectation bar for himself and this Illini basketball season by saying “I need that national championship” and Sunday was the 21-year-old’s realization that dream will not come to fruition.

“I'm hopefully remembered as the guy that really helped turn this program around. That's what it's all about,” Dosunmu said. “When I came here to Illinois, I came here to, of course, try to win a National Championship, but my main goal was to help get this program back on the map, help get this program back as one of the national powerhouses. We didn't get it done today, but at the end of the day this group of guys, there's no one on the team I want to go to war with. All season long, COVID protocols, able to play every game, not having any positive tests. I just think we sacrificed so much to get in this position, and I'm extremely proud of the guys.”

In the current what-have-you-done-last culture era of sports, Dosunmu recognized after this crushing defeat that his NCAA tournament performance will be scrutinized heavily.

“I definitely felt like I let my team down today, but I can take it. I can take the criticism,” Dosunmu said. “I can take whatever may come, I can take it. I've been through it all. It's another bump in the road.”

Illinois head coach Brad Underwood attempted to sum up the perspective of where Dosunmu’s career will stack up in program history. Dosunmu led the Illini in scoring and assists each of his three seasons in Champaign and led the program out of its longest NCAA tournament drought since 1981.

“My hats off to Ayo. He does a great, great job of leading and has been instrumental in this,” Underwood said. “His jersey will hang in our rafters someday.”

Illinois Fighting Illini guard Ayo Dosunmu (left) and guard Trent Frazier (right) and Loyola Ramblers guard Lucas Williamson (1) battle for a loose ball during the second half in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Loyola Ramblers won 71-58 :: Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

Trent Frazier, Illinois’ senior guard who coined the phrase “the last dance” for this 2020-21 season as an homage to the Chicago Bulls/Michael Jordan documentary, finished his Illini career with one of his career worst shooting performances. Frazier finished 1 of 10 from the field and was 0 for 5 from three-point range. Frazier’s two points Sunday was his lowest total since being held scoreless in the home loss earlier this season to Maryland on Jan. 10.

“We're not going to win many games when Trent is 1-for-10 and Ayo had a tough night,” Underwood said. “It's one of the great things about March Madness is you have an off-day and you lose.”

Illinois Fighting Illini guard Da'Monte Williams (20) dribbles against Loyola Ramblers guard Tate Hall (24) during the second half in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse :: Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports

Da’Monte Williams will leave Illinois with only one NCAA tournament victory in his college career after his father, Frank, led the Illini to six tournament wins over three consecutive appearances between 2000-2002. Da’Monte Williams, a senior co-captain on this Illini squad, came into this game against Loyola leading the nation in 3-point field goal shooting at 55.6 percent but the Peoria native never got a clean look from beyond the arc and had just two points and three rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench.

“Our guys were locked in, and I thought they did a really good job in transition defense and in ball screen defense,” Loyola head coach Porter Moser said.

According to NCAA rules, Williams and Frazier do have the eligibility to return for a sixth season next fall but the likelihood is the Illini senior duo and Dosunmu have ended their college careers by getting Illinois back to the NCAA tournament for the first time in eight years in a postseason run they probably thought would last longer.

“You know, I'm a real softy at heart, and man, when you walk in and you see young people crying, I get really emotional anyway, and I always go there first before I think of the positives and the good,” Underwood said. “You know, the game is over. We'll have plenty of time to review that. But I'm with those guys in the locker room, and my heart aches for them. I'm truly sad that today wasn't our day.”