The Illinois Fighting Illini were supposed to still be alive on this weekend of the NCAA Tournament, and next for that matter, but they disappointingly crashed out early.
Illinois have no one to blame but themselves, as Loyola-Chicago absolutely hammered them, and totally earned that victory which saw the Illini ousted in the round of 32, yet again. While the Illini season is over, there are still some Illinois basketball players competing in ’20-’21, but for national awards. Center Kofi Cockburn and guard Ayo Dosunmu both landed on the Wooden award All-American team.
WOODEN AWARD ALL-AMERICAN TEAM
Jared Butler, Baylor
Kofi Cockburn, Illinois
Cade Cunningham, Oklahoma State
Hunter Dickinson, Michigan
Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois
Luka Garza, Iowa
Corey Kispert, Gonzaga
Evan Mobley, USC
Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga
Drew Timme, Gonzaga
Illinois was one of just two schools to land mutliple players on the ten person list. As you can see above, Gonzaga bagged three. Dosunmu, who won the USA Today Player of the Year award, also made the short list of finalists for the Wooden. He’s the only player in the nation, over the last 11 seasons, to average at least 20 points, six rebounds and five assists.
He joined Magic Johnson as the only Big Ten players to achieve a triple double in conference play more than once. As for Cockburn, he is a finalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar award, which honors the nation’s best big man. A true throwback, pure center, is every sense of the term, he also made several All-American second teams.
Iowa’s Luka Garza is considered the front-runner to win the Wooden award. Here is a list of the remaining contenders.
WOODEN AWARD PLAYER OF THE YEAR FINALISTS
Jared Butler, Baylor
Cade Cunningham, Oklahoma State
Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois
Luka Garza, Iowa
Corey Kispert, Gonzaga
And here is a little primer on Illinois’ illustrious history with individual awards.
Illinois Wooden Award All-Americans
Kofi Cockburn & Ayo Dosunmu, 2021
Dee Brown, 2006
Dee Brown & Deron Williams, 2005
Frank Williams, 2001
Ken Norman, 1987
March Madness rolls on without the Illini, as the second weekend starts up again in a couple hours.
Be sure to click on BetQL for the odds, moneylines, point spreads, over/unders and more for every sweet sixteen game and the rest of the tournament.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.