Ayo rode the Dosunmu family network to NBA success
Ayo Dosunmu lasting until the No. 38 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft was a supremely lucky break for the Bulls.
But it's also a story that has been simmering for generations, one that began in Nigeria, then relocated to the South Side of Chicago.
The catalyst was Yakub Dosunmu and his wife moving from their native Nigeria to attend college at Illinois State. Ayo's father Quam was five years old when he left his grandmother's house in Nigeria to join his parents in Normal.
After graduation, the young family settled on the South Side and Yakub spent nearly 50 years teaching at the Chicago city colleges. Meanwhile, the family grew, expanded, and looked out for each other.
Whatever it took to guide Ayo, his siblings and cousins through life, they found a way to get it done.
"My boys, during their whole elementary and high school, they never got on the bus one time," Quam said. "We had a network of us. Everything was taken care of inside. The family structure is huge. We have a good foundation that was built since my parents got here and we just expanded on that."
The expansiveness of the Dosunmu family can be illustrated with a description of Thanksgiving, which should also give pause to anyone who is exhausted after hosting a gathering of eight to 12 relatives.
"Until COVID, when we used to have Thanksgiving, you're talking 50-75 people," Quam said. "Thanksgiving was like a family reunion for us. It started with the four of us, and uncles and aunts. The family just extended.
"Thanksgiving for us we had two separate meals. We had the traditional turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, the whole nine yards. Then we had Nigerian food."
The grandparents brought the emphasis on family and education from Nigeria. Quam was able to bring an American twist by adding a love of sports. He played basketball and baseball at Kenwood Academy, became a fan of the South Side Hit Men era of the White Sox and never missed a Bears game.
Yakub could have gotten a nice introduction to basketball fandom by watching Doug Collins play at Illinois State. Instead, it began a few years later by religiously watching Chicago's team, which happened to be the Mark Aguirre-led DePaul Blue Demons at the time.
Quam honed his basketball skills at the playgrounds. But times changed and he sent sons Ayo and Kube into the relative safety of the gyms, as soon as they were old enough to dribble. What followed was many years of early mornings and late nights in the gym, along with the road trips that go with playing AAU basketball.
For a few decades, Quam worked as a supervisor at UPS, commuting 52 miles from Country Club Hills to Northbrook. He switched careers to an education so he could be more available to coach, tutor, chauffeur or chase away any of the outside influencers that can hamper the progress of Chicago kids.
"My dad, he didn't miss a tournament, he didn't miss a practice, didn't miss anything," said Kube Dosunmu, Ayo's older brother. "My parents, they wanted to be real active in our lives."
Before every Bulls game, the last person Ayo talks to before putting his phone away is his grandfather.
"Him and my father, they've got that ritual," Quam said. "In reality, Ayo's easing his grandfather's mind, because gets so hit with the game. He gets so worked up."
Now that Ayo is running with the Bulls, filling in as starting point guard for the injured Lonzo Ball, the Dosunmu count is about 10 per game. They get four seats from the team, while some of the aunts and uncles have bought season tickets.
There's another ritual building at the United Center. Since preseason, Dosunmu has been a fan favorite. He gets one of the loudest ovations during pregame introductions and the fans seem to revel in his success.
"They love him because he loves Chicago," Quam said. "Everywhere he goes, he lets it be known, "I love my city, no matter what. This is the city I was born and raised in. this is the city that gave me all my grit and my character, everything I am." So it's a mutual feeling."
A mutual love between a city, a rising star, roughly 50-75 Dosunmus and a few more relative watching from long distance in Africa.
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