By Matt Daniels
mdaniels@news-gazette.com
Read on News-Gazette.com

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Akilah Mouzon didn't know much about Illinois once she started playing softball in middle school.

But the native of Newark, N.J., speaks like a life-long Illini when uttering the following phrase.

"That's a great feeling that our last game was a big win," Mouzon said, "and that we beat Missouri."

Mouzon is one of two seniors, along with infielder Maddy Adams, on the 2020 Illinois softball team who saw their season canceled last Thursday amid the coronavirus pandemic, a day after the Illini edged Missouri 2-1 on March 11 on the Lindenwood University campus in St. Charles, Mo.

Mouzon didn't play in the game. The 5-foot-9 pitcher only threw in one game this season for the Illini, picking up the win after starting and working three innings during a 5-4 victory against South Alabama on Feb. 8 in Clearwater, Fla.

In four seasons, the right-hander finished 6-1 with a 4.20 earned run average in 93 1/3 innings pitched, appearing in 44 games and making six starts.

A communications major, Mouzon received Easton/NFCA All-American Scholar-Athlete recognition in 2018.

Mouzon accepted her limited pitching role, however, during her Illinois career.

"Being an Illini has taught me to be a part of something that's much bigger than myself," Mouzon said. "Coming in from high school, I cared more about my individual performance and how I was doing in relation to the rest of the team. If I didn't pitch well, but the team won, I still didn't feel very good. Now, I'm at that point where we all have the same goals in mind: it's important to win and it's important to play as a team. I truly evolved."

The 22-year-old Mouzon took a different route to Illinois. She started her high school career by playing her freshman and sophomore seasons at DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, N.J. She then transferred to Paramus Catholic High School in Paramus, N.J., for her junior season before moving to Louisville, Ky., and playing at Ballard High School for her senior season.

It was during her time in Kentucky that she caught the attention of the Illinois coach Tyra Perry.

"I had a video and had been sending it to many different schools," Mouzon said. "Coach Perry saw my video and asked me to come to a camp at Illinois. It was a crazy great experience just being on campus and seeing all the facilities at Illinois. I got a tour of Green Street, and I got to meet all my future teammates. I fell in love with the school just from one visit, and I knew instantly that this was the place for me."

She committed to the Illini in January 2016 and arrived on campus to begin her college career two days after she graduated high school in the summer of 2016.

"I was very nervous at the time," Mouzon said with a laugh on Wednesday. "I was thinking, 'I'm not ready to be a college student-athlete yet.' I had roommates for the first time and different people that were around me, but it was a very smooth transition once I got used to the workload and the coursework."

Even though Mouzon didn't see the pitcher's circle at a frequent clip during her Illinois career, she is the only four-year senior on the 2020 roster. Adams arrived prior to the 2019 season after transferring in from Lake Land College.

"After having nine seniors last year, it's really interesting to have that particular designation for Akilah," Perry said. "We kind of call her our resident historian. If we're ever trying to talk about something in the past, she's basically the only one that remembers it or can reference it or was a part of it. She was on our leadership council. She was in charge of our procedures and policies for academics. She's very innovative and did a great job. She played her role well with dignity and class and definitely was someone that our players looked up to."

They did so again last Thursday night when the Illini convened for a team meeting in their locker room at Eichelberger Field around 6:30 p.m. to discuss the cancelation of their season.

"It was a very emotional environment just hearing the news," Mouzon said. "You knew what was happening, but it was still very difficult to have our coach talk to us about."

Still, Mouzon can say she was a part of two NCAA tournament teams at Illinois in 2017 and 2019 under Perry. And part of the foundational pieces Perry brought to Illinois in not only establishing a consistent winning product on the field, but establishing the current culture of the program.