Writing Illini
Fansided

Illinois Basketball: New NBA Draft withdraw date should be coming soon

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 11: Illinois Fighting Illini center Kofi Cockburn (21) celebrates after a play during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 11, 2020, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 11: Illinois Fighting Illini center Kofi Cockburn (21) celebrates after a play during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 11, 2020, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

I am excited that the Illinois basketball team has a chance to have two players in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Both Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn made the Illini run last year. They were the engine to what ended up being a top-four Big Ten team and an NCAA tournament program for the first time since John Groce’s first year. That is how much they mean to the team.

Over the past few months, Ayo and Kofi both declared for the NBA Draft, though. They entered their names into the hat without hiring an agent, so the possibility of them coming back to Illinois is still there. By now, we all expected to hear an announcement about whether or not they would pull their names out, but thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, everything has changed.

New dates were released on Thursday afternoon for all of the NBA festivities. May 19 used to be the date of the NBA Lottery, but that date is now set for August 25. The NBA Draft was supposed to be on June 25, and that date has been moved to October 15.

The big date for Illinois fans to keep an eye out for is the withdraw date from the NBA Draft. Originally, that date was set for Wednesday, June 3, but it was postponed because of everything going on in the world.

According to Adam Zagoria of Forbes and Zagsblog, the NCAA was just waiting on the updated dates for the NBA Draft to determine when the new withdraw date will be announced.

So, logically speaking, we should hear a final withdraw date relatively soon for the current players who have declared for the NBA Draft.

Will they stay or will they go?

I have been up and down about both players staying or going. I believe that Ayo will end up keeping his name in the NBA Draft. I think he could use another year to improve his draft stock, but all signs point to him getting picked this fall.

As for Kofi, I believe he will return to Champaign. The big man has only spent one year in college, and I don’t see him in the mock drafts that are being published. He should stay another year, and I would bet he ends up being a top 15 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.

Next. Illini to virtually visit with big man Alex Tchikou. dark

Illinois fans should keep an eye out on the withdraw date the next couple of days. This will be an important date for the future of the program.

Home/Illinois Basketball