Kofi Cockburn in the transfer portal
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Entered portal.
Spoke glowingly of OA and Kentucky to an ESPN reporter.
Told Coleman in an IG Live that he’s never coming back.
Attended an AAU event in Atlanta that the UK staff *coincidentally* were attending
Hasn’t been seen in Champaign in weeks.
Has he even met in person with BU since entering the portal? I’ve seen no confirmation.
Kofi has made no secret that we wants to start earning. What one school in America is most ready to pay players? I mean, be real.
But sure, keep the faith.
Spoke glowingly of OA and Kentucky to an ESPN reporter.
Told Coleman in an IG Live that he’s never coming back.
Attended an AAU event in Atlanta that the UK staff *coincidentally* were attending
Hasn’t been seen in Champaign in weeks.
Has he even met in person with BU since entering the portal? I’ve seen no confirmation.
Kofi has made no secret that we wants to start earning. What one school in America is most ready to pay players? I mean, be real.
But sure, keep the faith.
Yeah, it doesn’t look good at all. Hoping for a Hail Mary. We are due one.
Kofi announcing Friday. What will (Troll) " We Will Win "have to say ???
You forgot the final, and most important, part of Illinois recruiting analysis:
Take all of the evidence in front of you, and the exact opposite will happen.
I-L-L.
We'll be watching Kofi grab rebounds for all of Kentucky's 5 star, "me first", ball hogging guards. Unfortunately this is how Kofi will be getting touches.
He could have been a centerpiece at Illinois with a pass first, electric guard like Curbelo.
Doesn't make sense why you'd leave the program that made you an AA.
Squid and his slimy "used car $alemanship" are too hard to overcome....
He could have been a centerpiece at Illinois with a pass first, electric guard like Curbelo.
Doesn't make sense why you'd leave the program that made you an AA.
Squid and his slimy "used car $alemanship" are too hard to overcome....
The blue bloods are all aspiring to be Orange bloods these days. Kofi sees it. He's coming back!
Has he been to Lexington?
Was the Illini staff ALSO at that AAU tournament?
You can always cite only part of a story to form your narrative. The reality is unless you are Kofi cockburn, you don’t know where he’s going.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal
All of this (with the possible exception of money, which is maybe a wash, but probably advantage: UK).
Anybody viewing this through an objective lens would put it at under 5% that he comes back.
Maybe BU and staff have told Kofi that if he is staying....would you please making an announcement ....this will create a buzz that Illini nation hasn't experienced in quite some time and will only enhance his NIL opportunities....and as others have stated will send the message that we've out dueled Ky for a player we both wanted....would say something about our program and current staff
What I’ll say is that I really hope I’m wrong and will gladly eat massive crow and be the butt of your scorn.
But I don’t think that will happen.
I also hope these past few weeks have awakened our DIA and boosters to the new reality. Top players can be lured away — or to us — with cash on the table. Illinois needs to figure out really fast how to compete in this new world or wind up as a perennial also ran. We are reasonably competitive with coaches salaries and facilities. It would be advantageous to get the rep as the school that pays players top dollar.
We had the chance to be the first mover, but I don’t think that is happening. Imagine a press conference with Whitman getting up and discussing how the school, with its new Director of Athlete marketing recently hired from Big Time Agency, helped Kofi secure a $2 mil NIL deal to return for a final year. Imagine what that would do for our recruiting. Oh well.
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I disagree. Objectively Kentucky has a lot of players to fight with for points/rebounds and BU’s system thrives on a big man stretching the floor. With Belo at point, I imagine BU has been discussing that their offensive scheme would plan for more open lane and high post action and a lot of slashing off the ball to help his assist numbers.
DB11Headband
- Chicago Burbs
Homecoming 2019
- Chicago
Same as its ever been, NIL probably gives us a better shot at top guys now since we can focus our efforts on one superstar while Kentucky will have to spread it out to 5 now that everything is above the table (this is why we still have a chance at Kofi). DIA is doing a great job setting these kids up for realistic earnings going forward.
Long time lurker first time poster. I watched the Kofi/Coleman IG live. He didn’t say “never” as in I will never come back. He said “whenever” in a dismissive and non committal way.
I keep thinking back to the comment BU made a day or so ago about Kofi....something to the effect that .....he is ours until he's not...just seemed like an odd statement to the question posed to him by the reporter....that statement doesn't make me feel real confident.....hoping I'm wrong
I’m the opposite. Rationally, I would imagine if he were changing schools he’d visit a few (including KY) and be measured with the decision versus staying where he would be less compelled to look. This is also on the heels of the TA hire.
My heart on the other hand expects to be broken.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
I don't know how to interpret this, but it doesn't look good.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal
Sure, these are things that we tell ourselves (i.e. “I imagine”). Some of them even make sense (there *would* be a bit of a logjam at UK, but guess what, there is more often than not). At the end of the day, this is wishcasting.
If you’re looking at real things that have actually been said or that have happened, there’s very little to be optimistic about.
Friday is Kofimas! Can’t wait!
Joseph Kerr
- Fort Wayne, IN
So, I might like to be the odd man out, but we lost last year with a lot of talent. Not taking away from Kofi's talent, but some things, like awareness (Monte, Ayo) to others is not one of his strong suits. So, if we get a couple people who can share the role, but can pass out of bad situations, spot the open man, and not try to power everything, I think we could be better for it. Fix the four, and the five doesn't have to prolific, except on the defensive end. I think we could end up being better, less predictable this year. Just my opinion.
I don’t know. If I were in his shoes and entertained walking, I’d probably want to at least see a few schools. Georgetown would be high on my list. Has he even been to the KY campus? I honestly think we’re all biased as Illini fans into believing the worst, when objectively there are signs he’s staying. Count me in with the bunch… rationally it looks like he’s staying but I have this irrational fear that he’s gone.
We had one of our programs best years ever with a ton of talent and had a bad game when it mattered. Stop this less talent isn’t a bad thing before it starts. That’s what people said to rationalize recruiting under Weber after 05. Wasn’t true then either.
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