Illinois Basketball: 4 reasons Illini G Ayo Dosunmu wins the Wooden Award
4. Historical relevance
I believe historical relevance should be in the family of qualifications for the John R. Wooden Award. Everyone can put up points and pull down rebounds, but what have you done to put your name on the map?
Yes, Luka Garza has scored the most points out of all five players who are vying for the award, but that doesn’t mean much if your team isn’t one of the best in the country. Ayo is only averaging 3.5 points per game less than Garza. While Ayo is putting up points for Illinois, he is also generating points with his assists. Literally, each assist is at least two points. So, with 3.5 assists per game more than Garza, Ayo is generating at least seven more points per game.
The great play by Ayo has historical relevance within the Illinois basketball program as well. Ayo can do it all, which is more than I can say about the other four competitors. In fact, in the last four games, Ayo has averaged 21 points, 6.8 rebounds, 8.3 assists and recorded two triple-doubles. He is the first player in the last 25 seasons to achieve this feat in a four-game stretch.
Those two triple-doubles by Ayo were extremely impressive. He is in rarified air with his great performances too. Ayo now has two career triple-doubles. There are only two players who have more triple-doubles in their Big Ten career. Those two players are Magic Johnson and Draymond Green.
Ayo is putting up numbers that fans have not seen in a long time. On a school level, Illinois has never seen the numbers Ayo is putting up. He is the first Illinois basketball player to have two triple-doubles, and he is the first to have one on the road.
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So, yes, Garza can put up eye-popping numbers in the scoring department, but Ayo isn’t far behind the big man. But Ayo can do something Garza can’t do. He can get his team involved in the game. The numbers Ayo is putting up are rare and historic on a school and national level. Appreciate what you are watching because you never know when you will see it again. Ayo should be the winner of the John R. Wooden Award.