Basketball with Ayo!
PrepHoopsIllinois will have a regular journal with the state’s #1 2018 prospect Morgan Park’s Ayo Dosunmu where he directly reaches out to his fans and tells you what is going on both on and off the court. So without further ado here is Ayo!
What’s up y’all! Happy New Year!
Lets get right to it!
Season opener was a high scoring game for me. It wasn’t my intentions to score 50 it just happened that way and to be honest it was an adrenaline rush. Pops taught me despite the competition to always play my game. Whether I’m going against one of the top teams in the country or a local school here in the city I come to compete, top level, every game.
Battle of Vincennes! Really is no other way to put it. This is always a battle, EVERY TIME WE PLAY. Outside of the conference record, it also becomes bragging rights for the winner. Several players on the Simeon team also play for the Mac Irvin Fire. I play with them just as much as I play with my Morgan Park teammates. There was a nice pic of Kezo guarding me. Show no mercy is our motto. We make each other better. Two heavy weights going at it, it’s the greatest adrenaline rush ever. We go to battle on the court, we trash talk, we foul hard, we COMPETE, but when the buzzer sounds and the clock is at 0:00 we are back boys again. The game was back and forth. Neither team controlled the game at any time. Fewer than 6 sec, last play, TERRIBLE CALL (in my opinion). Just wish we could have played it out. Should have gone into OT. I’ll just say this; the PLAYERS should always win or lose a game.
Road trips are always fun so playing in the Oakland Classic was a great experience. To keep me focused Pops calls them business trips. Had a great time, the weather was cool, we were able to watch Charlie play at Cal and we came home with the W. We have fun on the road and it’s good to play outside the city, but we are reminded before tip off that we’re no longer in Chicago. The crowd was really into the game and the team played us hard. The refs were on us. Not allowing us to trash talk or taunt, big difference from how we play in CPS. We adjusted and played our game. Always physical we fight through and go hard. We are undefeated on the road.
Proviso West Tournament we were the defending champs! I think for the first time in all my years of playing this game I felt like I personally was the target. Saying my opponents were physical is an understatement. Hillcrest set the tone. They beat us over the summer so they came in with a lot of confidence. I love that. It means I’m going to get the best out of you. They came to compete, we battled but we came out with the W. Next up Uplift! These boys are scrappy. Leading them is one of the top guards in the 2017 class. We beat them over the summer so they had the same confidence as Hillcrest, but for different reason. They came to prove they were the better team and on a different day they might be, but it wasn’t that day so again we got the W. Not an easy W but still a W. Grand Finale, Red West vs. Red South, Meanstreets vs. Mac Irvin Fire, televised, coaches, scouts, media, and hundreds of spectators. Both teams with top ranked players, battle of the guards, you name it! Everybody had a different way to spin it. Tip off I knew then it was going to be different, it felt different. Every time I touched the ball I was greeted by 2-3 orange jerseys. Pops told me this day was coming. He told me how they were going to play me. They worked for weeks to prepare for me, and it showed, but they also woke the beast in me. Today I look back and appreciate that L. I learned a lot about my game, my mental toughness, and my role as a leader. I became even more aware of how big the target on my back was. Overall the tournament was a big learning experience.
This is a big year for me, time to level up, chapter 2, LET’S GO!
Ayo