The last major question surrounding the landscape of Big Ten basketball in 2021-22 has just been answered. Moments ago on his social media, All-American center Kofi Cockburn announced he is returning to Illinois to terrorize Big Ten bigs for a third season.
Cockburn averaged 17.7 points and 9.5 rebounds last season on an Illini team that had Final Four hopes but were upset in the second round by Loyola Chicago. Despite losing Ayo Dosunmu to the NBA draft, Illinois returns a pair of supremely talented guards in Andre Curbelo and Trent Frazier to pair with one of the top bigs in the nation.
KING’S BACK 🦍 pic.twitter.com/NooK3q9BKp
— Kofi Cockburn (@kxng_alpha) July 16, 2021
With the return of the Big Ten’s best big, Illinois should jump to the top third of the conference in most preseason projections.