Dainja and Illinois battle to the Elite Eight

Former Park Center boys basketball star and current redshirt junior Dain Daijna helped the University of Illinois defeat Iowa State 72-69 on March 28 to advance to the East Regional Final.

It was Illinois men’s basketball’s first time qualifying for the Elite Eight in 19 years.

Dainja, a 6-9 forward and center, scored seven points and had six rebounds off the bench, playing 14 total minutes. He also set the Illinois program record for consecutive field goals made at 20, breaking Derek Harper’s record of 19 set in 1983.

Dainja graduated from Park Center in 2020. He was part of a team that went 23-5 and qualified for the section championship game only to have the season ended by the COVID-19 pandemic. In his time there, he was a four-star, top 100 recruit and ranked 52nd in the country by ESPN.

Dainja and the Fighting Illini returned to the court on March 30 to take on the University of Connecticut as both teams looked to secure a spot in the final four.

Illinois saw its run in March Madness ended by a blockbuster performance from UConn, who put together a massive run in the second half to win 77-52.

Dainja played nine minutes in the game but struggled, alongside many of his teammates, to put together big numbers for the Fighting Illini.

Dainja ends his redshirt junior season with 38 games played for 404 minutes. He scored 101 total field goals from 151 attempts and added 31 free throws as he climbed to 233 points scored. Dainja added 57 offensive rebounds and 79 defensive rebounds for a total of 136. He also had 22 blocks and seven steals this season.

Mankato

Closer to home, Park Center’s Dawson Rudolph and the Mankato Mavericks men’s basketball team made history last week, winning the NCAA Division II Championship in an 88-85 win over Nova Southeastern University.

Rudolph, a sophomore, played four minutes in Mankato’s elite eight win over Ferris State, which was followed by a 79-72 win over West Texas A&M in the Final Four.

Rudolph did not feature in the final two games but finds himself part of an exciting run for the Mavericks with a promising junior year ahead of him after playing 13 games this season.