Big Ten Basketball: Top 5 point guard-big man combos for 2019-20 season
No. 5 Ayo Dosunmu – Kofi Cockburn, Illinois Fighting Illini
I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of the Illinois Fighting Illini this season. Coached by Brad Underwood, the Fighting Illini finished the year 21-10 (13-7 Big Ten) and ranked 21st in the final AP poll. This was quite the turnaround from last year as they finished near the bottom of the conference.
A big reason for their success this season was due to the play of their leading scorer Ayo Dosunmu (16.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.3 apg) and Big Ten Freshman of the Year Kofi Cockburn (13.3 ppg, 8.8 rpg). They are a great blend of size and speed as a tandem. Dosunmu has the speed to run the fast break and score, he passes the ball well and has a nice jump shot. He recorded eight 20-point games this season which shows that he can be a high-volume scorer.
Cockburn is a guy who I think can become Big Ten Player of the Year. He takes up space in the paint with his size at seven-feet tall, has good explosion when attacking the rim and he recorded 10 double-doubles.
Coburn has the potential to average a double-double during his career. With more work on his game, he’ll end up being one of the best if not the best big man in the conference. Together with Dosunmu, Illinois will go places.
The first look at Cockburn’s explosiveness. He takes one bounce and rises up for a two handed slam. Illinois won their season opener against the Nicholls State Colonels 78-70. Cockburn got the first double-double of his career (11 rebounds, 10 points).
This alley-oop was assisted by Da’Monte Williams.
Off of Dosunmu’s miss, Cockburn goes up, grabs the rebound, recovers and scores in traffic.
After the block by Cockburn, Dosunmu takes the ball the length of the court and lays it up for the score. He finished that game with 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Cockburn had a double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks). The Fighting Illini beat the fifth-ranked Michigan Wolverines 71-62.