Illinois big man Kofi Cockburn shocked the world. He’s still leaving his name in the NBA Draft but before he opts out of the NBA Draft, he made sure to opt-out of Illinois. He’s in the transfer portal looking for a new home after scoring 17.7 points per game and bringing down 9.5 rebounds per game.
Cockburn is a force inside. He scored 65.4 percent of his field goals and averaged over a block per game while committing only 2.5 fouls per contest. He’ll be a junior this upcoming season and is 49 points away from 1,000 points in his collegiate career. It looks, again, like it won’t be happening in Illinois, according to top sportsbooks.
At this point, it’s pretty clear. Cockburn is the best transfer in the portal and any team that’s able to land the seven-foot 285 lb machine will be extremely lucky. He was on the Second Team All-American and helped Illinois reach the NCAA Tournament as a one-seed.
But what’s weird is that Cockburn said he was “all-in” on the NBA Draft and not returning to college last week. Since then, he’s been participating in the NBA G League Elite Camp and was not even invited to the NBA Draft Combine, which kind of helped him realize he likely wouldn’t get drafted. Meaning, his path to the NBA would shrink at that point.
Why Leave Illinois?
There’s also the thinking that because the NCAA is allowing student athletes to make money off his name, image and likeness, that he decided to return to college to earn some of that NIL money. As one of the top players in all of college basketball, going to a premier school would help him tremendously profit off himself.
But still, it’s hard to understand why he’s passing on Illinois to make all of this happen. After all, teams like Kentucky passed on him when he was a freshman when Illinois didn’t. For your NCAAB picks, the team will lose Ayo Dosunmu but the core of Andre Curbelo, Trent Frazier, Da’Monte Williams and Jacob Grandison will all be returning. Plus, the two transfers in Alfonso Plummer and Omar Payne would be on the roster. Cockburn would make Illinois a national championship contender if he stayed without question. It seems like he thinks he can maximize his profit by going to a different school.
It truly feels like he’s leaving Illinois because of money. The NCAA’s withdrawal date for the NBA Draft is July 7. He’s got a couple more days to decide if he’s staying in the NBA Draft or transferring out of Illinois and playing college ball elsewhere. Of course, he can still wind up back at Illinois but that seems unlikely at this point.
What Are the Options?
There are plenty of teams and options for Cockburn. It would be stupid to name every team in the country and there aren’t really reports out there when it comes to teams considering Cockburn for their roster.
We know Arkansas’ head coach Eric Musselman loves bringing on transfers but they’ve already got a 7-3 center in Connor Vanover. Florida State’s roster is always filled with height and they’ve missed out on a bunch of tall transfers this season. They could be in the mix.
Of course, there’s always Gonzaga. If Cockburn’s main goal is winning a championship, Gonzaga could be that team. There’s also Memphis but if Penny Hardaway leaves for the Orlando Magic, those thoughts would be erased quickly. Hardaway took on James Wiseman and while he didn’t get much out of him, he had a game plan and got Wiseman to still be a top pick in the NBA Draft a season ago.
But the main team that seems the most likely would be Kentucky at this point. That’s what reports, and our NCAAB odds, say at least. Oscar Tshiebwe joined Kentucky in the middle of last year after transferring out of West Virginia but Cockburn and Tshiebwe could be a dynamic duo that no other team has.
The main reason for Kentucky would be because Chin Coleman and Orlando Antigua are now both assistants under John Calipari at Kentucky. Those were Cockburn’s assistant coaches and he’s had success with them in the past.
So at this point, it looks like Cockburn is sticking around to play another year of college basketball. But the sad thing is, it won’t be for Illinois. Still, at Kentucky, he’ll be one of the top players in the nation and a joy to watch.
