Without Kofi Cockburn at the No. 5 spot, the Illinois basketball team might struggle this upcoming season.
It is hard to replace such a talented big man. While there is a chance he comes back to the Illini, the odds are not in favor of the Orange and Blue. As of right now, I have incoming Florida transfer, Omar Payne, as the starting No. 5 for Illinois this upcoming season.
Payne isn’t a bad option at the No. 5, but he failed to pick up much steam with the Gators the past two seasons. Averaging just 3.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in 2020-21, Payne has yet to live up to his four-star billing. But, thankfully, he might not have all the pressure of filling in for Kofi this upcoming season.
Illinois continues to hit the transfer portal hard, and now they are in the mix for one of the top power forwards in the country. Kevin Obanor – who withdrew from the NBA Draft and entered the transfer portal – announced his top 10 schools he is eyeing. The 10 programs to make his list included; Arizona, Oklahoma, Florida, Texas Tech, Creighton, Maryland, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Alabama and Illinois.
Landing Obanor would give Illinois basketball a better lineup moving forward.
I know that Obanor stands a 6-foot-8, but if he decides to come to Illinois, I believe we should go with a smaller starting lineup. I could see Obanor being the starting No. 5 for the Illini from day one.
I believe Obanor has two years of eligibility remaining since he has played three years but last season didn’t count against eligibility. He would give Illinois tremendous athletic ability at the No. 5 while only giving up a couple of inches in height to bigger teams.
Obanor has proved he can play well against elite competition as well. Despite playing for a mid-major in Oral Roberts, he was able to have some big games. In the NCAA tournament this past season, Obanor helped take down the No. 2 seed in Ohio State. He dropped 30 points and 11 rebounds in that game. They then beat the No. 7 seed Florida with Obanor dropping 28 points and 11 rebounds.
Illinois would instantly get an upgrade to their lineup if Obanor decided to come to Champaign. I think he would be perfect as the No. 5 for the Illini. If we could add his 18.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, there is no telling how far we could go this season. I would imagine Illinois would be in contention for another No. 1 seed come March.