There has been one game this season where the Illinois basketball team played without their leader Ayo Dosunmu.
This game was on Saturday against a hot Rutgers program. The Scarlet Knights hadn’t lost at home this season, and the Illini were trying to knock them off without our best player. Obviously, if you are an Illinois fan, you know that things didn’t end well for the Orange and Blue.
Illinois competed for a while against Rutgers. We were in the game almost midway through the second half. But we couldn’t find scoring when we needed it. Rutgers would jump out to a double-digit lead because of the dreaded drought for the Illini. This deficit proved insurmountable.
It really is amazing how important Ayo has become to this team. Without him on the court, nothing runs right. His teammates are missing shots, there is no one to stop the bleeding when the opposing team is on a run and the lineup is all messed up.
But what would be the best lineup if we didn’t have Ayo for more games? What if he needs to rest his knee for the upcoming Penn State game? There were a couple of lineups that I shuffled through in my mind. But I landed on one.
Here is the best Illini lineup if Ayo Dosunmu misses the Penn State game.