Bulls Give Dosunmu 'Unreal Feeling' With Draft Night Selection

Chicago IL

30 July, 2021

8:26 AM

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CHICAGO — Chances are, the Chicago Bulls never expected that former Illinois star and home-grown talent Ayo Dosunmu would still be on the draft board when their second-round pick rolled around late Thursday night. Yet, somehow, the star guard who left Illinois early to chase his NBA dreams was still there when the 38th pick in the NBA Draft gave the Bulls the opportunity to land the former Morgan Park prep star. Dosunmu, who guided the Illini to the Big Ten Tournament championship and the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament last season, is staying home after the Bulls were able to nab a talent that was widely expected to go mid-way through the first round of the draft. Although Dosunmu was among those who expected his name to be called earlier than it was, his draft night destination quickly made up for any disappointment of having to wait so long to be drafted. CHICAGO'S OWN. WELCOME HOME, AYO. pic.twitter.com/ghTsi0NLFc— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) July 30, 2021 Surrounded by more than 200 friends, family members and former coaches and teammates at a draft night party in Chicago, Dosunmu received a phone call from his agent, alerting him that he was indeed staying home. In a conference call with reporters Thursday night, Dosunmu called being drafted by the Bulls an "unreal feeling." "You can't plan this. This is a dream come true," Dosunmu told reporters Thursday night, the Chicago Tribune reported. "To be able to play in my home state. There's not 37 people better than me. I got a list already. But I'm blessed to be able to play for the Chicago Bulls, the team I watched growing up." Ayo Dosunmu is a Chicago Bull! How about that for the hometown kid and love the reaction from family and friends @WGNNews pic.twitter.com/lzkqCmQ8xa— Josh Frydman (@Josh_Frydman) July 30, 2021 The 21-year-old left Illinois after the Illini were upset by Loyola-Chicago in the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament. He had returned to Champaign for his junior season after contemplating an NBA Draft run after his sophomore season. But Dosunmu, who emerged as the nation's top point guard, made the most of his junior season when he averaged 20.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists, and made the Illini a legitimate national championship contender. But following the loss to Loyola, Dosunmu quickly turned his attention to the NBA Draft. The Bulls are in need of some depth at guard and had targeted the Chicago native, but weren't sure they would have the opportunity to draft him after trading away their first-round pick in a trade that brought Nikola Vucevic from Orlando. "We interviewed him during the combine and found out how big of a Chicago Bulls fan he is," Bulls vice president Artūras Karnišovas told reporters on a video conference call Thursday night. "We didn't think he'd be there at 38, so it was kind of exciting to see him still up there. It was a long wait, but it was worth it." Dosunmu, whose party was attended by former Illinois coach Brad Underwood and former teammate Kofi Cockburn, along with celebrity friends like Chicago native Chance The Rapper, will carry a chip on his shoulder into his NBA career, motivated by the picks that were made of him Thursday night. But while he told reporters that he never expected to wait so long to have his name called, he will make the most of his opportunity to represent his beloved hometown. "I know I'm a first-round talent," Dosunmu told reporters Thursday night, the Tribune reported. "But you can't (ever know) what God has planned for you. And God wanted me to play for my city. So that's what I'm going to do. I'm embracing it. I'm grateful. I'm thankful to be in this position I'm in now. Now it's just about getting to work." He added: "I'm definitely going to go out and prove that a lot of teams made a mistake but Chicago, my home city, didn't, and so I'm excited."