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Illinois Basketball: 4 stats to watch for Illini G Ayo Dosunmu

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 11: Illinois Fighting Illini guard Ayo Dosunmu (11) is introduced to the crowd during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 11, 2020, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 11: Illinois Fighting Illini guard Ayo Dosunmu (11) is introduced to the crowd during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 11, 2020, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS – DECEMBER 14: Ayo Dosunmu #11 of the Illinois Fighting Illini drives to the basket in the game against the Old Dominion Monarchs during the first half at State Farm Center on December 14, 2019 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS – DECEMBER 14: Ayo Dosunmu #11 of the Illinois Fighting Illini drives to the basket in the game against the Old Dominion Monarchs during the first half at State Farm Center on December 14, 2019 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

3. Scoring list update

I have talked about the efficiency Ayo Dosunmu has developed from year one to year two in the first two slides. He is really becoming a more talented basketball player in the head, which is making him better on the court.

All of the improvements Ayo is making are helping him in the record books for the Illinois basketball program too. He has his eye on one of the biggest records in the history of the program, which is the all-time scoring list.

As of right now, Ayo has scored 940 points during his two-year Illini career. It isn’t fair to him that he didn’t get a chance to play in the NCAA tournament or Big Ten Tournament this past season or his points would be even higher than they are right now.

But let’s take a look at where Ayo would stand if we average the numbers out. So, his two-year average is 470 points per season. If he does that again as a junior, which I expect more, he would sit at 1,410 points for his Illinois career. That is good for No. 19 on the all-time Illinois scoring list.

The crazy part about Ayo’s scoring projection is the fact there would only be four players ahead of him who played fewer than four seasons with Illinois. Nick Weatherspoon, Dave Scholz, Don Freeman and Frank Williams all only played three seasons with the Illini. The other 14 players who would be ahead of Ayo all played four seasons with the program.

Ayo is already an Illinois legend in my book. But he has a chance to etch his name in the record books with a solid season and a nice tournament run. Watch for him to climb the all-time scoring list quickly this season.

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