It wasn’t life or death, but it sure was rotten luck.
Instead of taking on all comers at the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis more than eight months ago, Illinois’ upstart basketball team had to get back on the bus and head home. Instead of rejoicing in the school’s first NCAA Tournament experience since 2013, the Illini watched their dreams disappear in an invisible storm.
Something called a coronavirus, it turned out. Who knew?
“It was a bummer,” said Ayo Dosunmu, the All-American guard from Morgan Park who has become the face of Illini athletics. “Waking up not knowing it’s going to be taken away, you can take the game for granted. …
“[But] that’s over with. The Lord gave us a chance, another opportunity.”
If only this one can last. At 3-0 and ranked in the top five for the first time in 16 seasons, Illinois is in position to do some special things. Things like planting a block “I” flag atop the Big Ten mountain. Like making magic in March. Why not the Final Four?
The Illini believe that big, and they should. They can be as good as anybody.
If only the season can last all the way until its scheduled end. But now I’m repeating myself.
The Illini are back in Indianapolis, this time to take on No. 2 Baylor on Wednesday (9 p.m., ESPN) in Game 2 of the Jimmy V Classic doubleheader. No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 11 West Virginia meet in the opener, but it’s the Illini-Bears game that has the national media buzzing.
A lot of that buzz is about Baylor, a guard-dominant group led by Jared Butler, an elite scorer, and Davian Mitchell, a top playmaker and gnarly defender. The Bears — who ripped off 23 straight wins last season — are hell to play against. But they haven’t faced Dosunmu, 7-footer Kofi Cockburn, smooth freshman Adam Miller and the rest of Brad Underwood’s 100-mph squad. It’s no picnic trying to deal with the Illini, either.
“We have an opportunity to take what’s ours, put the whole country on notice and take what we want, take what we need,” Dosunmu said. “We believe we’re the best team in the country, and there’s no better chance, no better way to show it [than on] ESPN in front of the whole world.”
In early December of 2004, No. 5 Illinois trounced Chris Paul and top-ranked Wake Forest 91-73. Dee Brown, Deron Williams, Luther Head and every Illini fan with a pulse knew something major was brewing. This is the first time since that day that the Illini will take the court with both teams ranked in the top five.
“A Final Four game,” Underwood called it.
Of course, real Final Four games are the ones Brown and company ended up playing 16 seasons ago. A December game — even one this enticing — would be almost meaningless by comparison under normal circumstances.
But there’s nothing normal about 2020. Every game, every opportunity, every moment is to be seized and savored.
“I’m looking forward to enjoying every bit and piece of this season,” Dosunmu said, “because you never know when it can be taken away from you. With so many different things, you never know when it can end.”
There’s every reason to fear that the season won’t play out to its intended conclusion. What rotten timing that would be for the veterans on this team. What awful luck.
For now, the Illini are filled with promise and hope. If only, if only.
JUST SAYIN’
Then again, the Illini are playing for third in the Big Ten this season if you buy into the latest AP poll.
Iowa at No. 3? Wisconsin at No. 4? Michigan State at No. 8? Just how off-the-charts good is this league?
It’s the kind of thing you want to find out over, oh, four really flippin’ fun months or so.
• And then there’s Big Ten football. Sad, tortured, what-could-possibly-be-worse Big Ten football.
Ohio State, with two games already canceled due to COVID-19 issues, is in serious danger of being left out of College Football Playoff consideration. Wisconsin is stuck on three games played, its season basically having been a non-starter. Fellow banner program Penn State is fielding a weirdly horrendous team these days.
Indiana — whose sudden ascent was the co-story of the season along with Northwestern’s resurgence — lost tremendous quarterback Michael Penix Jr. last week to a major knee injury. Minnesota has fallen off the cliff. Nebraska is stuck in reverse again.
And we mustn’t forget Michigan, knee-deep in positive tests. The Wolverines announced Monday that they were “pausing football activities,” something I thought they did only during Michigan State and Ohio State weeks. (Sorry, cheap shot.)
• A subject line currently in my email inbox: “Study ranks Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan among top 5 most famous American athletes of all time.”
I guess I wasn’t intrigued enough to click on it. Maybe I’ll bite when the big “water is among the top 5 wettest substances” study comes out.
• Am glad new manager Tony La Russa and the White Sox decided to hang on to coaches Daryl Boston and Joe McEwing from Rick Renteria’s staff. Two guys who bring good vibes and — even better — always have good stories.
• Watching Carson Wentz and the Eagles offense spit into the wind for three hours against the Seahawks on Monday was a reminder that Mitch Trubisky isn’t the only quarterback drafted No. 2 overall to be revealed as a pretender.
And speaking of terrible television, you know what might make a good reality show? A QB competition between Wentz, Trubisky and your cousin Earl who threw for 827 yards and six touchdowns in his high school career and totally could’ve played college ball if not for his trick shoulder. Earl’s way too old to still be walking around in that ill-fitting letterman jacket, but maybe, just maybe, the sonofagun has a few glory days left in him.
