Illinois Basketball: Illini eyeing another big man for the class of 2022

Life after Kofi Cockburn is going to be something Illinois basketball fans will have to get used to in the near future.

While we still have Kofi on the team, it is nice to enjoy the Illini legend. It is not every day we get a 7-foot monster in the doors of the State Farm Center.

That day when Kofi does depart the program is going to be sad, though. He has been a major part of the rebuild, and his presence has given Illinois basketball a solid recruiting ground for bringing in future centers.

One of the centers that are in the crosshairs of Brad Underwood’s staff is Adrame Diongue. He is a 7-foot, 185-pound center from Compass Prep and resides in Chandler, Arizona. Diongue is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 28 center in the class of 2022. He is also the No. 18 player coming out of Arizona.

Diongue would give Illinois basketball some options at the No. 5 spot.

On Monday, Joe Tipton of On3.com and also known as @TiptonEdits on Twitter, published his interview with Diongue.

In the interview, Diongue talks about the schools that he wants to visit. Texas, Kansas, Oregon State, Texas Tech, and Illinois were all mentioned among the programs that he has an eye on.

Diongue also goes on to talk a little more about the Illini.

"“I like how they play. They play with a big man and I see myself there too. The way I play is the way they play, getting up and down the floor, screen and roll, dunk every ball, post up.”"

If Illinois was able to land Diongue for 2022, he would give the program another viable option at the No. 5 spot moving forward.

Omar Payne would be the incumbent big man on the roster. He is playing sparingly and averaging just 1.5 points and 1.7 rebounds per game this season sitting behind Kofi.

Underwood was also able to land Baylor transfer, Dain Dainja. He committed to Illinois back in November and averaged just 2.0 points and 1.0 rebounds in three games with the Bears this season.

And then that would leave Diongue to be the third option at center. All three have a lot of work to do to become a starting-caliber Big Ten center, but at least Illinois would be going into the 2022-23 campaign with some options.

Dainja is also enrolling at Illinois for the spring semester. That means he is going to be able to get some good work in and then be ready for next season. This gelling time is invaluable.

Getting Diongue would be big for the Illini. If he does commit to Illinois, I could see Dainja being the starting No. 5. Payne would be the backup. Diongue would come in and redshirt year one. By year two, Dainja is starting with Diongue being the backup. That is the game plan that I have for the Illini center position.