It’s probably safe to go ahead and assume that this will be the final season for Ayo Dosunmu at Illinois. He’s had an outstanding career in Champaign, capped by a fabulous year in 2020-21 that has him in the running for B1G and National Player of the Year honors.

But Dosunmu won’t be able to play in what’s expected to be his final home game with the Illini. Due to a facial injury sustained in Tuesday’s Michigan State game, the star will miss Illinois’ Thursday night matchup against Nebraska.

Since he won’t be on the floor during the game, Dosunmu still wanted to show his appreciation to the State Farm Center and his time at Illinois. Before tipoff on Thursday, Dosunmu got down on the floor and kissed the “Block I” before the team’s final home game of the year.

Derek Piper of 247Sports captured the moment:

Dosunmu was clutch for the Illini two weeks ago during the team’s road visit to Nebraska. Trailing late, Dosunmu scored a bevy of buckets to force the game to overtime and Illinois was able to survive a scare, defeating the Huskers 77-72.

Dosunmu ended that game with 31 points on 12-of-23 shooting and dished 6 assists in the win.

This season, Dosunmu is averaging a team-high 21 points per game and is also the leading assist man with 5.3 dimes per contest. Illinois had been on a seven-game winning streak until suffering the loss to the Spartans on Tuesday.