Illinois Basketball: Predicting starting lineup/depth chart for 2021-22 season
By Tommy Farmer
Starter: Kofi Cockburn
Backup: Omar Payne
If you even decided to click on this final slide to see what everybody already knows, thank you. Obviously, if you follow college basketball, you know that Brandon Lieb will be the man in the middle for the Illini this season. Wait, what? Never mind, I forgot that Coach Cal couldn’t land superstar Kofi Cockburn this summer. That’s a shame.
Instead, Cockburn will stay in Champaign for his junior year and dunk on everyone in the Big Ten. As one of the preseason favorites for NPOY, Cockburn will anchor this Illinois squad once again on both ends. He will be relied upon a lot in the half-court offense and as a shot-blocker cleaning up defensive miscues. If Cockburn improved even slightly as a passer and at guarding guys further out from the basket, he will be a top-3 player in the NCAA this year.
The Illini also succeeded in the transfer portal by bringing in Florida transfer Omar Payne. I expect Payne to be used as Kofi’s backup primarily. He should have the minutes when Cockburn is sitting locked up. However, the main question surrounding Payne is whether he can share the court with Cockburn. Early on, he will see some time at the four with Cockburn playing center, but I don’t see that experiment lasting.
Overall, Illinois is deep and well-positioned to make another run at the Big Ten title. Coach Underwood will have a lot of options and tough decisions to make, but that’s why they pay him the big bucks.
Next. Key Big Ten questions entering 2021-22 season. dark
It will be exciting to see how the freshmen and transfers fit in, as well as how the returning players have developed since we’ve last seen them. It can be difficult to gauge offseason hype, but Illinois fans should be pleased with how their team is configured heading into the season.