Illinois Basketball: Kofi and Giorgi the best Illini big-man duo

There is a possibility of the Illinois basketball team having a shortage of big men for the 2020-2021 season, and that would be a classy problem to have.

The Illini have a big man duo for this upcoming season that is, honestly, unmatched in program history. I can sit here today, without seeing one play from Kofi Cockburn in an Illinois uniform, and make an argument that he and Giorgi Bezhanishvili form the most formidable big man duo that has ever suited up for this team.

Giorgi shined as a true freshman for the Illini last season. The kid ended up finishing the year averaging 12.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Some of his best games came against Big Ten opponents too. He dropped 26 points and 4 rebounds against Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament. He had 35 points and 7 rebounds in an overtime win against Rutgers. He also had 20 points and 8 rebounds in a blowout win over Minnesota.

We haven’t seen Cockburn on the court just yet for the Orange and Blue. That is where people are going to poke holes in my state of Giorgi and Cockburn being the best big man duo in program history. But he is a top 50 recruit coming from the class of 2019. He is extremely athletic for his massive size. He looks like he will be a force in the Big Ten. When comparing this duo, you also have to look at past duos as well.

What duo do Giorgi and Cockburn have to compete against? Are you going Leron Black and Michael Finke? I would take Giorgi and Cockburn. The best duo recently was maybe Meyers Leonard and Nnanna Egwu, but Egwu was just a freshman and didn’t do much in year one.

I think you would have to go all the way back to the 2001-2002 campaign to find the most recent dominant big-man duo. The combination of Brian Cook and Robert Archibald are probably the best big man duo. Cook, as a junior, averaged 13.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while Archibald, as a senior, averaged 10.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

I realize I am probably missing a duo from pre-1990, but most of those teams were relatively small. The Flyin’ Illini had a really small lineup, which makes what they did even more impressive.

Overall, Illinois is going to put out one of the greatest, if not the greatest, big man duos this program has ever seen on the court this season. If they live up to their hype, that means there is a solid chance that we lose both to the NBA draft. That means Illinois would have a huge hole to fill in the middle of the paint. If that ends up being the case, I am completely okay with that outcome. That means this program will succeed.