Illinois Basketball: Bernard Kouma ready to sign with Illini

There is currently only one player who has put pen to paper when it comes to the Illinois basketball class of 2019.

Back in April, Kofi Cockburn decided to sign his National Letter of Intent to play for the Illini. He was the prized recruit for the Illini in the class of 2019. He is the only player, as of right now, who has signed the paperwork to play for the Orange and Blue. That is all changing this upcoming Thursday, though.

Bernard Kouma committed to the Illini back on April 8. He is another big man who could play multiple positions for Illinois this upcoming season and into the future. Kouma announced that he is going to be signing his NLI this upcoming Thursday, May 30. He will be signing it at his high school, Our Saviour Lutheran.

Kouma was a nice snag by the Illini. He ended up committing to Illinois when Antwan January was still committed, but he has since departed and Kouma will be a nice replacement who can do everything that January was able to do on the court. Kouma is a 6-foot-10, 200-pound power forward who is rated as a three-star recruit and is ranked as the No. 395 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 73 power forward in the nation.

This is obviously a big moment for Kouma. Signing on with a big-time DI program is an accomplishment that not many players get to have. The Writing Illini asked him what he was feeling and what exactly this opportunity meant to him.

“It means a lot to me. Where I’m coming from, it is hard to get a high school scholarship to come here to pursue your dream and be successful,” said Kouma, “It is an opportunity to continue my academic and basketball career and playing for Illinois is a great opportunity.”

Basketball wasn’t always at the forefront of Kouma’s athletic abilities. It wasn’t his first sport of choice. The sport he was first playing wasn’t football, soccer or track either. The first sport he really took up was volleyball.

Kouma picked volleyball because that is the sport his dad played. His dad was a volleyball player so, naturally, he took up the sport as well. His height probably helped on the volleyball court as well. But, in 2013, Kouma picked up the game of basketball because his coach from back home asked him to come to practice. He said that Kouma could play both volleyball and basketball.

After that one practice, Kouma fell in love with the game. It was his sport and, soon after, he dropped volleyball completely.

“Coach came to see my mom, and he asked why I stopped going to volleyball,” said Kouma, “mom told him that I am going to basketball and that she can’t stop me or force me to go to volleyball because basketball is what he loves.”

While I am sure Kouma was a nasty volleyball player with his height and wingspan, I am sure the move to basketball has paid off tremendously. He is now going to college for free and has the potential to make an impact on an Illinois team that needs him in the worst way.

Kouma realizes the work isn’t done by just getting a scholarship and signing with Illinois, though. This kid is determined to improve his game. He also sees that his time in volleyball has helped him along the way in the game of basketball as well.

“Oh yes, it helped me a lot on the basketball court,” said Kouma, “I need to work on my jump shot and improve on my game.”

Kouma will put pen to paper this Thursday to officially be a part of the Illinois class of 2019. All Illini fans are excited to have this kid come in and play from day one. He is going to be a big part of this team and someone who players can rally around.