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Illinois Fighting Illini star center Kofi Cockburn announced Wednesday that he will be entering the 2022 NBA Draft and will hire an agent, ending a legendary college career in Champaign.
Cockburn took to social media with his announcement, featuring a lengthy message:
NEXT CHAPTER 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/Wz6xzAUl51
— King Kofi (@kxng_alpha) April 20, 2022
With the new NIL rules in place, there was some hope that Cockburn would return for another season at Illinois after three years with the program. His return would have solidified the Fighting Illini as one of the top teams in the country for next season.
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Instead, Cockburn is following his dreams and going pro. The question is if he will get drafted. Despite his college dominance at Illinois, Cockburn is ranked 89th on ESPN's list of 2022 NBA Draft prospects. He's a throwback center who works exclusively around the basket and was able to destroy the college ranks thanks to being 7-foot-1 and 285 pounds. The Jamaican-born big man will need to develop his skill set and improve his mobility in order to make it in an NBA where those kinds of centers just aren't as valuable anymore.
The Illini great does recognize this, via ESPN's Jonathan Givony:
“The NBA values players like Steven Adams and Jonas Valanciunas — guys who set great screens, who know the pick and roll game, how to slip and seal, how to be a physical defender and rebounder who blocks shots. My size can be a major advantage in the NBA. I don't need the ball to happy.”
Cockburn truly was a dominant force at Illinois, averaging 20.9 points and 10.6 rebounds while shooting 59.3% from the field this past season. He was the only player in college basketball to average 20/10 and was a consensus First-Team All-American. The big man led the Fighting Illinois to a share of the Big Ten title this past season and helped them win the Big Ten Tournament the year before along with Ayo Dosunmu.
The only blemish on Cockburn's college career was failing to make it to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, but that shouldn't overshadow what he accomplished at Illinois the last three seasons.
