Illinois Basketball's Best of the Century: No. 4 Kofi Cockburn

The Illini have produced a number of stars over the past 25 years, and in this Illinois on SI series we highlight the best of the best

Nov 26, 2021; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini center Kofi Cockburn (21) runs up court during the second half against the Texas-Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Today marks another entry in our ongoing Illinois on SI "Best of the Century" series featuring the top 10 Illini players over the past 25 years. In our selection process, we considered individual production, career length (must have played at least two seasons since 2000), team accomplishments and intangibles.

No. 10: Malcolm Hill

No. 9: Frank Williams

No. 8: Luther Head
No. 7 James Augustine
No. 6 Brian Cook
No. 5 Terrence Shannon Jr.

No. 4 Kofi Cockburn (2019-2022)

Career averages: 17.2 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.2 blocks
Best season averages (2021-22): 20.9 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.0 blocks

Two-hundred and eighty-five pounds on a basketball court is usually a recipe for disaster – that is, unless your name is Kofi Cockburn. At 7 feet tall, Cockburn found that his game wasn't slowed by his nearly 300 pounds of broad-shouldered girth – it was enhanced by it. His athleticism, surely shaped by the star of Illinois’ current offseason, Adam Fletcher, didn't suffer for his frame. And that combination of strength, quick-twitch power and just enough agility combined to amount to an entirely unstoppable force.

Kofi Cockburn's game

With soft touch around the basket with both hands, and even a floater he would occasionally unpack, Cockburn could score in a variety of ways around the rim. A native of Kingston, Jamaica, he didn't exactly have the feet of a ballet dancer, but he knew his angles and understood how to take advantage of his size around the paint. In post-up situations, Cockburn had that innate ability to feel a defender on his back and anticipate how he would react to a shimmy this way or a head fake that way.

More often than not, though, Cockburn made things simple: He would dominate through sheer force, powering through and over opponents. The only true defense against Cockburn was to deploy a Zach Edey (if you were lucky enough to have one) or to get him into foul trouble … which takes us to the other end of the floor.

HBD, Kofi Cockburn! @kxng_alpha 🥳

Let’s celebrate with some of the 2x 1st-team All-@bigten honoree’s top @IlliniMBB plays. pic.twitter.com/dhqsra9Tn4

— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) September 1, 2023

Defensively, Cockburn certainly could send shots back (1.2 blocks per game for his career), but he would often just take opposing bigs entirely out of the game. A brick wall, Cockburn couldn't be backed down or even moved off his spot by opposing post-up players, who could rarely even get a seal. Although he struggled at times against more athletic bigs (notably Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis), Cockburn was almost always a plus on the defensive end – and usually a massive one. Illini fans will recall with a wry smile Cockburn getting caught off his feet and spilling into foul trouble now and then – one of the very few drawbacks of his game.

Cockburn's legacy

Iowa guard Payton Sandfort (20) and forward Kris Murray (24) defend Illinois center Kofi Cockburn during a NCAA Big Ten Conference men's basketball game, Monday, Dec. 6, 2021, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. 211206 Ill Iowa Mbb 036 Jpg | Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK

A high-impact player from Day 1, Cockburn started all 31 games his freshman year, averaging 13.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and (a career-high) 1.4 blocks en route to Big Ten Rookie of the Year honors. A year later, he went for 17.7 points and led the Big Ten with 9.5 rebounds per outing while pushing the Illini (alongside star guard Ayo Dosunmu) to a Big Ten Tournament title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, all while earning second-team All-American honors.

Illinois will honor Kofi Cockburn's jersey February 11.

This news has us wanting to watch some of the former star's @IlliniMBB dunks 🍿#B1GMBBall pic.twitter.com/4hB5iKAIQv

— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) January 29, 2025

Then, in his final season at Illinois (2021-22), Cockburn elevated his game to a new level: 20.9 points and 10.6 rebounds per game – all of which earned him consensus first-team All-American status, and truly cemented his legacy as not just an Illinois great but an all-time college basketball great. 

Cockburn would have hammered out one heckuva career in the NBA back in the '80s, but things didn't pan out for him in the sleeker modern league. (You don't drop a V8 Power Stroke engine into a Mini Cooper.) Instead, Cockburn turned his attention to overseas basketball and has quickly built a commendable career as a mainstay in the Korean Basketball League (KBL), where no one has become more loyal backers of the Seoul Thunders than Illini fans.