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Stick with me for a second. My thought that there should be a statue — or two or four — outside State Farm Center didn't come out of nowhere. But the process to get there does illustrate my brain works in strange ways sometimes.
The seed was planted by my trip to Michigan State. A statue of Magic Johnson stands outside the Breslin Center. That seed bloomed Friday night in my hotel room in Madison, Wis. I flipped to ESPN2 for the Illinois State-Northern Iowa game, and the opening shot was of the statue of former coach Will Robinson and former star Doug Collins outside Redbird Arena.
My first thought? State Farm Center needs a statue, too. Maybe more than one.
The who, of course, is the question. The statues of Red Grange and Dick Butkus outside Memorial Stadium and the Smith Center make sense for Illinois football. Two iconic former Illini.
The possibilities for State Farm Center aren't as cut and dried. Lou Henson is at the top of my list. The Hall of Fame coach already has a street and the SFC court named after him. A statue would be a fitting trifecta for the all-time winningest coach in program history.
After that? It gets difficult to separate individual players from some of the more iconic Illinois teams. How do you choose a single Whiz Kid? Or just one Flyin' Illini? Or Dee, Deron or Luther, but not Roger or Augie?
Maybe you don't. Maybe those teams are honored some other way among the statutes that could (should?) go up.
An argument can be made for a Deon Thomas statue. Not only is Thomas the all-time leading scorer in program history (and it's going to be tough to top his 2,129 career points), but he also ranks second in career blocks and fourth in career rebounds. Put up a statue!
Maybe Bruce Douglas, Illinois' career leader in assists and steals, should be on the list of potential statues, too. He was also the Big Ten leader in both categories when his career was over and still ranks in the top three in both. For a guy not brought up that much — at least when all-time greats are discussed — Douglas sure has the résumé.
Going even further back, guys like Mannie Jackson and Govoner Vaughn (first Black starters and letterwinners at Illinois), Dave Downey (still holds single-game scoring record) and Andy Phillip (OK, I picked a single Whiz Kid, but he's the only Illini in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player) could be statue worthy, too.
Which brings this somewhat rambling idea in my brain back to the present. Should Illinois put together a lengthy March Madness run this season, it's not inconceivable to think Ayo Dosunmu might wind up with a statue worthy career. Both for individual success and what he's meant for a program that was mired in mediocrity before he arrived. Dosunmu injected new life into Illinois basketball. Brought it back from the brink. Good enough to put up a statue?
https://www.news-gazette.com/sports/good-morning-illini-nation-statue-worthy/article_eb8f9aa0-7983-11eb-952b-4fa0fe38e6b6.html
2021-02-28 12:00:00Z
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