Illinois Basketball: Ayo Dosunmu makes preseason AP All-American team

Illinois basketball guard Ayo Dosunmu has made the AP preseason All-American team.

Ayo continues to rack up accolades ahead of a highly-anticipated season. Shortly after being listed on the Big Ten’s preseason honors list, the Chicago native was put on notice by The Associated Press, as he joined Iowa’s Luka Garza, among others, on its preseason All-American Team on Wednesday morning.

Illinois and Iowa played for Big Ten supremacy in March just days prior to the conference tournament and annual March Madness tournament getting canceled due to COVID-19. The Illini were able to edge the Hawkeyes in a thrilling home win at State Farm Center, not knowing if it would be the team’s last game of a resurgent 2019-2020 campaign.

Other names on the list included Baylor’s Jared Butler, Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham, and a tie for first-place between Gonzaga’s Corey Kispert and Arizona State’s Remy Martin.

It’s safe to say that the rising junior guard, who chose to forego the NBA Draft in late-July, is joined by some elite company. The season is nearly two weeks away and with the Orange and Blue sporting the No. 8 ranking in the country, its highest in over a decade, the anticipation for success is immense in Champaign.

The Illinois basketball schedule is starting to become clearer.

It was announced on Wednesday that the annual Braggin’ Rights game between the Illini and Missouri Tigers will still happen but with a test. The two programs had a coin flip on Thursday night to determine which school will host the game.

Missouri ended up winning the coin flip.

It is expected that fans will be permitted from attending this SEC/Big Ten cross-over match-up, but keeping the game on the calendar provides a bit of normalcy to an unusual season.

“The Braggin’ Rights game is special,” Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman said in a statement. “It is important to our teams, our Universities, and our fans. It also means a great deal to the city of St. Louis. We enjoy a nearly 40-year partnership with our many friends in St. Louis and the Enterprise Center; unfortunately, complications in the current climate are too many to hold this year’s game there. We look forward to returning the Braggin’ Rights game to Enterprise Center in the coming years but are excited to bring the 2020 edition of this series on campus. In a time when so many difficult scheduling decisions are being made, we worked diligently with our friends at the University of Missouri to ensure this great rivalry game will continue.”

The game is scheduled for December 12. With two-straight wins for the Tigers, Illinois looks to rebound and bring the Braggin’ Rights honors back to Champaign.