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Illinois Basketball: Kofi Cockburn announces return to the Illini

By Collin Allen

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MARCH 21: Kofi Cockburn #21 of the Illinois Fighting Illini reacts to a basket against the Loyola Chicago Ramblers during the first half in the second round game of the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 21, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MARCH 21: Kofi Cockburn #21 of the Illinois Fighting Illini reacts to a basket against the Loyola Chicago Ramblers during the first half in the second round game of the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 21, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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Illinois basketball just received significant news regarding its star big man, Kofi Cockburn.

Kofi announced that he will be returning to the Illini for the 2021-22 season on Friday via his Twitter page.

Following the end of the 2020-21 season, the Illini big man announced that he would be declaring for the 2021 NBA Draft.  Shortly after – on July 1 – Kofi decided that he was entering the transfer portal.


Less than a week later – on July 7 – Kofi then withdrew his name from the NBA Draft while remaining in the transfer portal.  He then cut his list down to three schools; Illinois, Kentucky, and Florida State on July 14 via Instagram.

Kofi was great for the Illinois basketball team last season.

The dominance of Kofi is well documented. He led the nation with 78 dunks and averaged 15.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per contest for the Illini as a sophomore.  The seven-foot big man’s dominant sophomore season earned him many notable honors which include first-team All-Big Ten, Wooden All-American Team, NCAA consensus second-team All-American, and was also named a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award finalist.

Additionally, Kofi finished No. 3 overall in the nation in double-doubles (16) and No. 4 overall in field goal percentage (65.4%).

The Illini star will be re-joining a frontcourt that now includes former Florida Gator Omar Payne who transferred to Illinois on April 3.  Other members of the 2021-22 Illini frontcourt will include sophomore stretch forward Coleman Hawkins, sophomore center Brandon Lieb, and junior forward Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk.

In addition, Kofi will get the opportunity to re-join firth-year senior returnees Trent Frazier and Da’Monte Williams for their final season. He will also help guide a very talented incoming 2021 recruiting class which ranks No. 23 in the nation and No. 4 in the Big Ten, according to 247 sports.

Next. Illini fans should be excited about the position changes. dark

Kofi’s return allows for a huge sigh of relief for the Illini faithful, given that the Orange and Blue had already lost three of its key players from the 2020-21 season – Ayo Dosunmu, Giorgi Bezhanishvili, and Adam Miller.

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