Illinois Basketball: Huge commitment from 4-star center Kofi Cockburn

Illinois Basketball received a huge commitment this weekend in top-50 big man Kofi Cockburn. He figures to be a big piece for the Fighting Illini’s future.

The Illinois Fighting Illini landed a stud big man in Kofi Cockburn on Sunday. Cockburn is a 6’10” center from the famed Oak Hill Academy (VA). Originally hailing from New York, Cockburn is ranked 33rd overall in the nation by 247Sports in their composite rankings. He is one of the highest-rated commits for Illinois in the past decade.

He recently went on an official visit to Champaign on December 28th. That official visit was only his second OV out of the 5 total allowed OVs for prospects. His first one was a visit to UConn in late October. He clearly liked what Illinois had to offer during his visit considering he shut down his recruitment without taking his remaining three officials, and has committed to Illinois less than two weeks after his OV there.

Cockburn’s commitment to the Fighting Illini can be primarily credited to assistant coach Orlando Antigua, who joined Brad Underwood’s staff in April of 2017 after some time as the head coach at the University of South Florida. Before his time at USF, he was a longtime assistant to John Calipari at both Memphis and Kentucky. Specifically regarding Antigua, Cockburn told the Illini Inquirer the following:

"“He’s persistent. He goes after it. When he wants something, you know it… Even when I’m not playing basketball, he’s trying to get me better. He’s always looking out for me. He’s always showing love and support. He’s a really great guy.”"

It goes without saying that head coach Brad Underwood’s first season at Illinois was unsuccessful and this season looks to be much of the same, but Cockburn’s commitment is a game-changer for the program and could be exactly what Underwood needs to spark change in Champaign.

Looking at the 2019 class as a whole, the Fighting Illini have only one other verbal commit as things stand. 3-star Antwan January committed in November but has not signed yet.

Undoubtedly, Illinois fans hope that Cockburn’s commitment yields some momentum for the 2019 class in time for the regular signing period in April.