Illinois Basketball: Illini C Kofi Cockburn gaining notoriety
Blue blood programs wanted Kofi Cockburn, but the Illinois basketball team managed to snag this big man sensation.
It doesn’t happen very often, but when the Illini are able to secure a commitment from an extremely talented player over teams like Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina, it gives the fanbase a much-needed jolt.
But Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports posed the question on Twitter, “how would people talk about Kofi Cockburn if he played at a blue blood?”
The context of what Rothstein is saying makes all the difference here. I took what he said as if Kofi would be playing for one of the blue bloods mentioned above, he would be talked about as one of the best players in the nation. But he plays at Illinois, so he is getting lost in the mix. That is how I took that statement.
How would people talk about Kofi Cockburn if he played at a blue blood?
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) December 11, 2019
Illinois' freshman big man is averaging a double-double (15.4 PPG, 10.7 RPG) and has had four games with 13 or more rebounds.
A mountain masquerading as a man.
I don’t believe Kofi is getting lost in the mix nor do I believe he needs a blue blood program to display his talents on the basketball court. Kofi is coming off his third Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor, so I don’t think coming to Illinois has hurt his notoriety. People are taking notice.
Beyond notoriety, I then think about what the odds are that Kofi would even be playing the number of minutes he is receiving at Illinois with one of these blue blood programs. As of this minute, Kofi is averaging 24.9 minutes, 15.4 points and 10.7 rebounds per game this season. Let’s take a look at how the other freshmen are doing with the blue blood programs mentioned above.
Kansas’ freshmen are only averaging 12.95 minutes per game. They hardly get to see the floor. They are playing about half the minutes Kofi is playing. Kentucky freshmen are averaging 20.3 minutes per game. Duke freshmen are averaging 22.8 minutes per game. The only blue blood out of the four who has their freshmen averaging more minutes than Kofi is North Carolina. Their freshmen average 26.9 minutes per game, but this number is skewed thanks to Cole Anthony balling out.
In my opinion, this answers the question about how would people talk about Kofi Cockburn if he played at a blue blood. I am not so sure people would be talking about him at all. He likely wouldn’t be starting for most teams. He would, most likely, be averaging less than 20 minutes per game. He probably wouldn’t touch the ball nearly as much either.
Next. 3 observations from the Illini loss to Maryland. dark
Yes, Illinois might not be a traditional blue blood anymore, but they have the platform for high school players to show off their talents for the next level. Kofi is proving that you can come to Illinois and get the national spotlight. People need to start warming up to the fact you don’t need to go to a blue blood to get notoriety.