Writing Illini
Fansided

Illinois Basketball: Illini getting visit from 2019 big man Kofi Cockburn

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 30: The Lou Henson signature is seen on the court before the start of the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 30, 2018, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 30: The Lou Henson signature is seen on the court before the start of the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 30, 2018, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

There are a handful of players who the Illinois basketball team has made a top priority for 2019.

One of those players looks to be big man Kofi Cockburn. He is a 6-foot-11, 248-pound center from Christ the King Regional High School in Middle Village, New York. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 32 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 10 center in the nation.

Illinois has been after Cockburn for a while now extending a scholarship offer to him back in May 2017. Since then, I have been hot and cold with his recruitment. There were times where I thought the Illini were picking up steam. But, then there were times where I thought they might have dropped off the radar for this talented big man.

In recent reports by Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com, Cockburn has plans to visit Illinois, Pittsburgh and Kansas next month. This is huge news in regards to potentially landing Cockburn. The Illini are getting a visit from him, and this is the opportunity to show that Champaign is the best fit for his future. And, believe me, he would start day one for the Orange and Blue.

Brad Underwood and the Illinois offense are going to want to run more starting this season. This isn’t necessarily conducive to what Cockburn provides. He is a prototypical big man. But, there would be some depth behind him so he doesn’t have to play an extended amount of minutes. Illinois would be able to sub when need be.

If you get Cockburn in an offense with Ayo Dosunmu and Trent Frazier, the Big Ten better watch out. Cockburn can pull down rebounds and score at-will around the hoop. When Dosunmu and Frazier draw double teams going to the basket, they will be able to dump the ball off to Cockburn for an easy slam.

Next: Illini snag big man transfer Adonis De La Rosa

I can picture now how great he would be in the Illinois offense. Cockburn has strong big man skills and the Illini could use someone like that on the team. It is exciting they are getting a visit from him.

Home/Illinois Basketball Recruiting