Illinois Basketball: 4 big questions for the Illini against Penn State

3. Is Hawkins the big man of the future?

Life after Kofi Cockburn scares me a little bit. The big man is the type of player that doesn’t come around too often, especially at Illinois.

I had been hoping that Brad Underwood would land a big-time big man from one of the recruiting classes, but that hasn’t happened since Kofi joined the program. We haven’t been able to bring in anyone with nearly the same ability. But that might all be changing.

Illinois was able to land big man transfer Dain Dainja toward the end of 2021, but he didn’t get much playing time at Baylor, so who knows if he will be the future starting center. A big question that will continue getting answered on Thursday night is could Coleman Hawkins be the big man of the future for the Illini?

If I would have mentioned this just a month ago, people would call me insane, to put it nicely. Hawkins wasn’t doing much in the way of contributing and, honestly, I wasn’t sure if he was going to end up working out at Illinois.

But, man, things have changed quickly. Hawkins flipped a switch in the last few games. It is like everything started slowing down. He is starting to develop into a really good player and someone I could see being the centerpiece to the Illinois frontcourt.

In the last two games alone, Hawkins has averaged 8.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 1.5 assists per game. He doesn’t look lost on the court anymore either, which was a big issue I had with him earlier this season.

Hawkins is looking like a suitable big man moving forward. I am going to be watching to see if he continues to develop against Penn State.