NCAA Basketball: Top 30 frontcourt players for 2021-22 season
By Ian Mumm
4. Kofi Cockburn, Illinois Fighting Illini
It didn’t take long for the former Oak Hill star to establish his dominance at the college ranks. Kofi Cockburn quickly ascended the depth chart at Illinois, including a productive Giorgi Bezhanishvili, during his freshman season. That productivity was easily maintained and then some over the course of his sophomore campaign.
Cockburn’s increased offensive efficiency was readily evident last year, as he pushed his field goal % to 0.654. Without commanding a larger piece of the Illinois offense, the 4.5 point per game improvement helped him to secure All-American and 1st team All-Big Ten selections. Nearly automatic with his production, the 7-foot behemoth poured in double-doubles on a nightly basis, including a string of six games from Christmas to mid-January.
With the departures of Ayo Dosunmu and Adam Miller from the top of the lineup, you can expect Cockburn will continue to approach the 20 PPG-10 RPG barrier this season.
3. Drew Timme, Gonzaga Bulldogs
Gonzaga’s run to the NCAA Final was not without a bit of backcourt magic from Jalen Suggs and consistent contributions from Corey Kispert and Joel Ayayi. However, the drastic emergence of sophomore forward Drew Timme significantly helped the Bulldogs to roll out a consistently balanced attack each time they touched the floor. Timme only saw an ~8 minute per game increase between his freshman and sophomore seasons, but the Richardson, Texas native took full advantage of offensive opportunities to garner national attention.
His productivity as a freshman was efficient and balanced on both ends of the court. In fact, only Killian Tillie featured a more productive offensive and defensive rating on the court. However, still managed huge offensive growth in his 2nd season to become an even more potent offensive threat for the Zags. Another step forward in year 3 is not out of the question either when considering how Timme and 5-star freshman Chet Holmgren figure to play off each other.