'A tremendous appreciation for greatness' - Brad Underwood On The Impact Of Kobe Bryant's Death

Illinois coach Brad Underwood talks about how the death of Kobe Bryant has affected his team's players over the last few days.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois coach Brad Underwood talks about how the death of Kobe Bryant has affected his team's players over the last few days. 

Illinois leading scorer Ayo Dosunmu, who has become a designated late-game closer along with being the team’s leading scorer, once again led Illinois to a road victory at Michigan Saturday as he drained a game-winning contested jump shot with 0.5 seconds left to give the Illini a 64-62 win.

“One particular (player) would be Kobe or (Michael) Jordan because late-game they’re doing one, two moves and then getting to their spot and elevate. Kobe, when he hit that shot against the Suns in the playoffs, off the tip he got to his spot, raised. Jordan, get to his spot, raise. I would say those guys.”

It should come as no surprise that Dosunmu lists Bryant as his favorite player and others in the Illini locker room saw the NBA legend in the same terms the Illini third-year coach saw Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Larry Bird and Jordan. 

"I grew up with Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic," Underwood said. "I can remember going to Wichita State to watch Larry Bird when he was at Indiana State. They became your idols and watched them throughout their careers. That's what Kobe was to this group. There's a shoe named after him."

Less than 24 hours after Dosunmu used a Kobe Bryant 1-on-1 move in Ann Arbor, Mich., to lift the Illini to a 64-62 win, Bryant, along with eight other people including Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna, died Sunday in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif. Bryant was 41 years old.

"It's tragic what happened and not because of the competitor he was and the fact he won five championships but because of what he was off the court," Underwood said. "What he stood for and how hard he worked. Anybody in the world, no matter the sport, has seen him touch people in every sport. The greats in other sports know how hard he worked to be great. Those stories are legendary. There is a tremendous appreciation for greatness. It’s very sad and it does impact our guys. Sometimes our young people today don’t understand, he woke up that morning expecting to go see his daughter’s AAU game and life was great but tomorrow didn’t come. Our guys don’t understand that sometimes. A lot of lessons in that. Alan had been around him a little bit because of his father and my son, Tyler, idolized him. They all had their moments Sunday or disbelief.”