This may not mean all that much, but I noticed the announcers talked him up & analyzed his game a lot, and in general put more spotlight on him than most other players. They were talking about him as if he did have an NBA future and what he'd need to improve on for the team that uses a draft pick on him. Seems like he likely will be getting the real combine invite.
2021 NBA Draft
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Newmark4thFloor
- Houstown
In case anyone was wondering, it's clear now. Kofi himself said that he's not coming back.
247sports.com
Daily Digest: Kofi Cockburn 'not coming back' to Illinois
There's a lot of news each day. Illini Inquirer will try to make it easier to digest each weekday morning with the Daily Digest. Today, get up to speed on Kofi Cockburn
247sports.com
Will hurt to not have Kofi back next year, but to take a player of his ranking and skill level and turn him into even a borderline nba pick after only 2 years speaks very well of our program. Of course, Kofi gets a lot of credit, but I don’t think anyone had this kind of projection for him out of high school. I know I actually preferred Oscar T. and just thought Kofi looked a little lumbering and slow for our 7 seconds or less offense. Think Kofi is definitely a feather in BU’s cap when recruiting bigs.
Indeed, it is telling how many recruits include an image of either Ayo or Kofi when announcing they’ve received an offer from Illinois.
illini80
- Forgottonia
I suppose it’s not officially “official” until after the deadline to withdraw. I’m still hoping we can land a 4 and a 5 with these last two spots. Competition for the few top ones available will be strong. It will be a great sign if we pull them in.In case anyone was wondering, it's clear now. Kofi himself said that he's not coming back.
Daily Digest: Kofi Cockburn 'not coming back' to Illinois
There's a lot of news each day. Illini Inquirer will try to make it easier to digest each weekday morning with the Daily Digest. Today, get up to speed on Kofi Cockburn
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He has rare physical gifts, but his transformation took teamwork. I'm thinking BU, Fletch, etc. Really hope he gets to the NBA in this cycle, or at least a contract that positions him well for it.
Kofi made it officially official when he made money off his gear.
illini80
- Forgottonia
Whitman was on WDWS Saturday morning and that was not his take. I think it’s a moot point however.
illini80
- Forgottonia
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
OK, that was funny!
Does anybody know when upcoming NBA combine coverage starts? Can't tell if that starts today or tomorrow. My Google skills are failing me
blackdog
- Champaign
I found this back when the Naismith finalists were announced with Dickinson on the list and not Kofi
Attachments
Kofi is 40 pounds heavier than Hunter Dickinson but has significantly better numbers in the vertical. Dude's a freak and I sometimes can't believe how incredibly lucky we were to have had him on our team. We'll still be talking about him in 50 years and I kinda feel bad for future Illini big men because he's going to cast a huge shadow (literally and figuratively).
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
Those are dang good numbers for a dude his size.
Shooting less than 50% from field and just 28.6% from the line probably didn’t help his cause.
New mock draft from the Athletic has Ayo going #30 to Utah and Kofi not drafted. Other Big 10 players are Franz Wagner at #10, Aaron Henry #44, Luka Garza #46, and Joe Wieskamp #53.
Don't know why Ayo's stock seems to have dropped to the point where he's barely in the first round in this one. As I recall, the Athletic had him going higher earlier in the process and have had him slipping in pretty much every subsequent mock draft. The article notes concerns about the mechanics of his jump shot, but that's not really new information. Scouts have known about that since he was in high school.
On a more positive note, this USA Today mock draft from yesterday has him going #18 to OKC and compares him to John Wall and Russell Westbrook, so let's just go with that one: https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/s...lts-up-no-2-spot-mock-draft-board/7768161002/
Don't know why Ayo's stock seems to have dropped to the point where he's barely in the first round in this one. As I recall, the Athletic had him going higher earlier in the process and have had him slipping in pretty much every subsequent mock draft. The article notes concerns about the mechanics of his jump shot, but that's not really new information. Scouts have known about that since he was in high school.
On a more positive note, this USA Today mock draft from yesterday has him going #18 to OKC and compares him to John Wall and Russell Westbrook, so let's just go with that one: https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/s...lts-up-no-2-spot-mock-draft-board/7768161002/
blackdog
- Champaign
And he has a lower body fat percentage! Just an absolute beast of a man.
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
Weber is always dancing in our hearts and minds.Was Weber dancing in that photo or was it just me
TheFameProtector
- Champaign
Dang, that's impressive. About the only thing you can nitpick with Kofi is the agility -- everything else is freakish for a guy of that size. Would love to see how many bench reps he's able to do. Also, I need to offer a mea culpa: I was convinced his wingspan number was exaggerated and would impact his draft stock, but clearly it wasn't. That's huge for him.
EJ at only 6'5" in shoes was a bit surprising. Still, I don't see why he isn't in the second round conversation. With NBA training he seems like he could easily be a Jae Crowder-type, and we're seeing for the second year straight why having that kind of guy on your team is huge. I'd rather have EJ at pick #45-50 than Franz at pick #10, that's for sure.
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TheFameProtector
- Champaign
Kevin O'Connor (Ringer) has him going at #30 to the Jazz too, even though he has Ayo at #25 on his big board. I'm honestly not surprised by the drop. Upside always draws GMs back in the further away from the season it gets. Seems the only college-proven guys that rise late (at least in mock drafts) are the ones that show out in the NCAA tourney, like your Davion Mitchells.
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