NCAA Basketball: 10 teams that should target transfer Kofi Cockburn

NCAA Basketball: 10 teams that should target Illinois transfer Kofi Cockburn

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - FEBRUARY 18: Kofi Cockburn #21 of the Illinois Fighting Illini takes a foul shot during a college basketball game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at the Bryce Jordan Center on February 18, 2020 in University Park, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

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NCAA Basketball Kofi Cockburn Illinois Fighting Illini (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /

Due to the revamped transfer rules from the NCAA organization, players have until July 1st at midnight to enter their names into the NCAA Basketball transfer portal. In the past few days, we’ve seen big names such as Jaden Shackelford, Keith Williams, and Tyrece Radford. But the biggest name to hit the portal this offseason has emerged on the last day in Kofi Cockburn.

A former top-40 prospect, Cockburn is a 6’11 pure center who was Big Ten Rookie of the Year as a freshman, averaging 13.3 ppg and 8.8 rpg. But it was his sophomore season that propelled the big man into a national star.

Cockburn started out this past season with three straight double-doubles. But it was his 33-point career-high effort against Minnesota that showcased his offensive potential beyond just dunking and putbacks. He ended up producing 17.7 ppg and 9.5 rpg on 65% shooting from the field, including scoring in double figures in all but two games last season, and had 11 straight games of at least 10 rebounds.

Thanks to Cockburn and Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois finished 24-7 overall, including a Big Ten Tournament title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. It ended rough with a second-round loss to Loyola-Chicago but the big man did end up as an All-American, a deserved award for the talented center.

Illinois has undergone a lot of roster and coaching transactions this offseason, including Dosunmu declaring for the NBA Draft. Cockburn did as well and all signs pointed to him being done with NCAA Basketball.

https://twitter.com/Andrew__Slater/status/1410680519096999940

Yet in the end, the All-American big man ended up entering the transfer portal, giving himself another option. He could still go pro or even return to the Fighting Illini but now, there are other teams potentially in play.

Every team could use a talent such as Cockburn but only a few make true sense among the 350+ programs in the country. Here are 10 teams that could potentially be in the mix to land him.

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