Illinois center Kofi Cockburn announced on Twitter that his decision to declare for the NBA Draft for the second straight season Sunday. He joins Illini teammate Ayo Dosunmu in looking to continue his basketball career at the professional level.
DECLARED 🙏🏾❤️ pic.twitter.com/up4Jn0FCV2
— Kofi Cockburn (@kxng_alpha) April 18, 2021
Cockburn averaged 17.7 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while making 65.4% of his shots from the field during his sophomore campaign. He became the only NCAA player on the season to average 15+ points and 9+ boards on at least 60 percent shooting. He ranked third in the nation with 16 double-doubles and fourth nationally in field goal percentage while leading the NCAA with 78 dunks.
Cockburn is the first center in Illinois history to achieve consensus All-America status, earning a spot on the Wooden Award All-American Team and garnering second-team All-America accolades from the Associated Press, NABC, USBWA, Sporting News, CBS Sports and USA Today.
Cockburn helped lead Illinois to a 24-7 record, including a 16-4 mark in conference play followed by the Big Ten Tournament championship. The Illini earned an NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed and set a school record by defeating six top-10 teams during the season. Illinois finished the year at No. 4 in KenPom, the second-highest rating in program history.
