Illinois Basketball: Where does Kofi Cockburn rank among top 5 Illini center commits since 2000

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MIDDLE VILLAGE, NEW YORK – APRIL 05: Gerald Drumgoole #4 of La Lumiere battles for the ball with Kofi Cockburn #21 of Oak Hill Academy in the semifinal of the GEICO High School National Tournament at Christ the King High School on April 05, 2019 in Middle Village, New York. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images) /

2. Kofi Cockburn – Class of 2019 (4-star, #41 overall, .9846 rating)

The No. 2 big man on this list is none other than current Illini commit and, as of Tuesday, official signee Kofi Cockburn. There are only a few pieces this Illinois team is missing and a solid big man at the No. 5 spot is one of them.

Cockburn is a 6-foot-10, 280-pound center from Oak Hill Academy in Mouth Of Wilson, Virginia. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 41 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 10 center in the nation. He is also the No. 2 player in the state of Virginia and has a .9846 class rating as well.

There were so many teams coming after Cockburn during his recruitment. Not many “experts” thought he was coming to Illinois, and why would they? The Illini missed out on quite a few players like Cockburn over the last half-decade. But Brad Underwood and the Illinois coaching staff did a great job at landing this talented kid who has made it to this point by way of Jamaica, to New York, to Virginia and now to Champaign.

I am slotting Cockburn in at the No. 5 spot, and I project him to start as well. I have Giorgi Bezhanishvili moving over the No. 4 spot to free up the No. 5 spot for Cockburn. This would make for the best lineup. Having these two big men starting alongside Trent Frazier and Ayo Dosunmu should give this Illinois team a group that can compete with any team in the nation.

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