Illinois Basketball: 4 big questions for the Illini vs Cincinnati

2. Will Kofi have any rust?

You wouldn’t guess that Illinois was missing their 7-foot All-American center by looking at the rebounding numbers.

Illinois is averaging 50.3 rebounds per game this season, which ranks No. 1 in the country. Yes, that is right, without Kofi Cockburn, Illinois is the best rebounding team in the nation.

Now, insert a 7-foot monster who no one can handle. This Illinois basketball team should be dominant. But will the big man have any rust after missing the first three games of the 2021-22 campaign?

Honestly, if Kofi didn’t have any rust, I would be shocked. Going from playing in the preseason to not playing back to playing three games into the current campaign, there is no doubt in my mind Kofi might start a little slow.

I would imagine by the 10-minute mark in the first half, all of the rust will have fallen off, though. Kofi is way too good of a player not to have his game nearly tuned up for his first game of the season. Getting in the game flow is going to be the biggest issue, but that just takes time. He will eventually pick up the speed again.

Kofi back in the lineup is going to help the Illini tremendously. It takes a lot of the pressure off players like Coleman Hawkins, Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk, and Omar Payne. They had to be the size for the Illini in Kofi’s absence. Now they can freely play while Kofi does his thing in the paint.

I am going to keep an eye on how rusty Kofi is early on in the game. I don’t expect that rust to last too long, though.