Dosunmu 1st Illini voted first-team All-America
Illinois guard Ayo Dosunmu became the first player in school history to be voted to the Associated Press’ All-America first team when he was honored in balloting released Tuesday.
Dosunmu, who played high school ball at Young, received 59 of 63 votes from a panel of sportswriters and sportscasters after averaging 20.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists to lead the Illini to the Big Ten Tournament title and the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament.
Illinois center Kofi Cockburn was voted to the second team after averaging 17.6 points and 9.6 rebounds, and Loyola center Cameron Krutwig made the third team after averaging 15 points and 6.7 rebounds to lead the Ramblers to the Missouri Valley Conference’s regular-season and tournament titles.
Iowa center Luka Garza made the first team as the only unanimous selection, and Michigan center Hunter Dickinson made the second team.
NCAA being flexible with BYU schedule
The NCAA announced it will swap the dates for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in the Midwest and East regions if BYU reaches the second weekend of the tournament because the Mormon school prohibits competition on Sundays.
BYU is in the East Region, which is scheduled to play Sunday, March 28, and Tuesday, March 30. If the Cougars advance to the Sweet 16, the NCAA will move the East Region games to Saturday, March 27, and Monday, March 29, with the Midwest Region taking the Sunday and Tuesday dates.
New Mexico hires Richard Pitino
Richard Pitino was hired as the coach at New Mexico, hours after being fired Monday as the coach at Minnesota. Pitino, 38, compiled a 141-123 record in eight seasons with the Golden Gophers, but the school finished with losing records in three of the last four seasons.
Pitino replaces Paul Weir, who went 58-63 in four seasons with the Lobos. New Mexico last reached the NCAA Tournament in 2014.
Six officials out of NCAA Tournament
NCAA senior vice president of basketball operations Dave Gavitt confirmed a CBS Sports report that six officials won’t be working the NCAA Tournament, which opens Friday, because one tested positive for COVID-19 and five others were deemed close contacts after arriving in Indianapolis.