Illinois Basketball: Illini needed Coleman Hawkins’ size

The Illinois basketball team had a pretty big weekend as a player joined the family to help this program get back on top.

On Saturday, Coleman Hawkins decided to end his recruitment and commit to the University of Illinois. He was on an official visit to Champaign this past weekend, so the Illini coaching staff was able to snag this kid before he left the campus.

Hawkins is a 6-foot-10, 195-pound power forward from Prolific Prep Academy in Antelope, California. He is rated as a three-star recruit who is the No. 191 player in the class of 2020 and the No. 31 power forward in the nation. He is also the No. 20 player in the state of California.

There was a time I was worried whether or not we would land Hawkins, but over the last few weeks, it became clear the Illini were in the lead here. Hawkins did take two other official visits, though. He visited Rutgers back in June and then San Diego State just two weeks ago. It looks like it is Illinois for this young big man, and that is a great thing for the Orange and Blue.

I am going to put together a projected lineup here shorty, but the addition of Hawkins is clearly going to bring so much-needed big man depth to this Illinois roster. Who do we have that is over 6-foot-9 right now?

Well, Giorgi Bezhanishvili is 6-foot-9. The way he started his career as a freshman, I doubt he is going to be here all four years. I would imagine he is here through his junior year and then will depart for the NBA.

Jermaine Hamlin just committed to Illinois a few months back. He is a 6-foot-10, 235-pound big man, but we don’t know what he is as a player yet. He hasn’t played a game for the Illini, so that situation is still up in the air.

We then have Kofi Cockburn. Cockburn was the prized big man the Illini was able to land this offseason. He is 7-foot, 290-pounds. But it is likely he spends a maximum of two years with the program. It would not shock me if he departs after his freshman season.

To sum it all up, Illinois doesn’t have size after the 2020-2021 campaign. Hawkins coming in from the class of 2020 brings the Illini much-needed depth. This kid is going to have a chance to, potentially, start for the Orange and Blue early on in his career.