CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois basketball team silently sat together in the wake of NBA legend Kobe Bryant’s passing on Sunday.

There weren’t any smiles or laughs, just mourning the fact they lost an icon.

“We were pretty quiet, not really joking,” forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili said. “That vibe in our locker room was really quiet, talking and just having conversations, just appreciating each other, maybe, and just appreciating life. It was just really tough.”

The players in that locker room, like the rest of the basketball world, are still trying to come to terms with the fact they lost someone who co-authored the game of basketball.

You can’t tell the story of the game without Kobe Bryant, and for that reason, so many like guard Ayo Dosunmu looked up to him, and considered him the greatest to ever step on the hardwood.

Dosunmu had his posters, wore his shoes and even met him in person when he attended the Nike Academy. Dosunmu watched his idol carve out his legacy from afar his entire life, and now, is trying to celebrate that legacy while he continues to watch how his death is bringing the world together.

“He means a lot to me, growing up, being my favorite player of all-time,” Dosunmu said. “At a young age, three, four and five, just really falling in love with the way he played the game and the passion that he played with. It hit me really hard when I found out he died but I try not to be sad about it and cherish his legacy and just go harder for him.”

Dosunmu said his entire mentality and ability to hit big shots in bigger situations came from Bryant. He noted watching Bryant make his way back to the mountaintop after losing in the NBA Finals the year prior to Boston set his way of life.

“Growing up, I took on his mentality, just the way he was,” Dosunmu said. “The first time I really locked in on his mentality was in the finals. The year before, they lost in the finals to Boston, and I saw how they lost in five games and Kevin Garnett kissed the floor, and the next year he came and said in the offseason that he would get his redemption and he accomplished that.

“To see him get over that hump right there is something that always stood by me and I really locked in on his mentality. It made me change the whole person. Anytime I’m not really feeling hitting the gym or want to rest, it gives me the motivation to go.”

Bezhanishvili especially took notice of the man Bryant was off the court. He doesn’t see Bryant as just a basketball icon, but also as a great human being to look up to.

“He was just a huge, huge icon. And just a huge human being to look up to,” Bezhanishvili said. “Not only was he a great basketball player, but he was a great father, family guy. He tried to be the best in everything he could and that’s something really special that people try to take that from him and take that example from him. Rest in peace, Kobe. He was one of the greatest.”

Illinois head coach Brad Underwood grew up watching prior legends such as Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. He remembers going home just to watch Bird play against Wichita State when Bird was at Indiana State, and just going “wow” when he saw him play.

Those were Underwood’s idols growing up, and Bryant was an idol for this current generation he’s now coaching.

“That’s what Kobe was for this group,” Underwood said. “It’s tragic what happened, yet, he was so powerful, not just because he was a great competitor and won five championships, but because of what he was off the court and what he stood for and how hard he worked. I think everybody in the world, in every sport, you’ve seen it touch every sport literally.

“The greats in other sports know how hard he worked to become great and those stories are legendary. There’s tremendous appreciation for greatness and it’s very sad and it does impact our guys.”

Bryant’s death is just another example of how there needs to be an appreciation for what you have because you never know if that’ll get taken away from you. This lesson is one Underwood thinks is overlooked by today’s youth.

“Sometimes our young people today don't understand,” Underwood said. “He woke up that morning and expected to watch his daughter play an AAU game and life was great and the next morning didn’t come. Guys don’t understand that sometimes and they think they’re bigger than life itself. Lot of lessons in that.”