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Illinois Basketball: Illini still in Kofi Cockburn’s visit plans

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 22: A general view of the shoes worn by Illinois Fighting Illini forward Leron Black (12) during the game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Michigan State Spartans on January 22, 2018 at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 22: A general view of the shoes worn by Illinois Fighting Illini forward Leron Black (12) during the game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Michigan State Spartans on January 22, 2018 at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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As the targets narrow, the Illinois basketball team has to be feeling more and more pressure to land some of the big-time targets left on the board.

There are still a few out there despite the Illini missing on some of the bigger targets as of late. One of the big targets – in size on the court and impact on the team – for 2019 is Kofi Cockburn. He is the center who cut his list down about a week ago to just South Carolina, Syracuse, UConn, Oregon, Kentucky, St. John’s, Kansas, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, LSU, Florida State and Illinois.

It looks like Cockburn has updated his recruitment a little more as well. According to Jacob Polacheck of Zagsblog, Cockburn is now planning on taking four visits this fall. He wants to visit Kentucky, UConn, Florida State and, yes, Illinois. In the article, it really feels like Kentucky and UConn are out front, though.

Getting Cockburn to come to Champaign has to be one of the top priorities for Illinois right now. He would be a gamechanger for the program. Cockburn is a 6-foot-10, 255-pound center who now plays for Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia. He is a four-star recruit who is the No. 27 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 8 center in the nation.

Honestly, when it comes to recruiting, I am kind of beaten down right now. Illinois has missed out on some big in-state targets recently and this has hurt my confidence in landing recruits. When it comes to Cockburn, I haven’t had the most positive feelings recruiting wise.

I would love Cockburn to be the Illinois center in 2019. He would be sensational in Brad Underwood’s system. But, he lives on the east coast and a majority of his teams on his list are from that side of the United States. There are some outliers, though. I think Oregon is probably out of the running, but they have been notorious for stealing Illini targets.

Kentucky is always a worry. They just snagged Kahlil Whitney and their power of one-and-done goes a long way with top recruits in today’s age. I do think UConn has a legit shot at landing him. They have been known to have big men succeed at the college level.

Next. Top 6 Illini targets for the class of 2019. dark

I hope Illinois can manage to get an official visit out of Cockburn. The article mentions he plans to cut his list down again before a decision. I think a goal right now is to get into that next cut. One step at a time for this Illini program. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Hopefully, Underwood can work some magic.

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