Cockburn's departure could trigger new era of up-tempo hoops at Illinois

Kofi Cockburn’s departure for the NBA Draft leaves a big hole on the Illini roster, but it also marks the beginning of a new era and a new, up-tempo playing style.

Brad Underwood has assembled the pieces to space the floor and play a more exciting brand of basketball, and that’s what he intends to do.

Of course, winning brings a lot of excitement – and the Illini did a lot of that in Cockburn’s three seasons at Illinois.

The Illini won a total of 47 Big Ten games in Cockburn’s three seasons at Illinois while also winning a Big Ten Tournament championship in 2021 and earning a share of the regular season Big Ten championship in 2022 on the final day of the regular season after beating No. 24 Iowa.

For all the regular season success that the Illini experienced with Cockburn anchoring the lane offensively and defensively, they failed to make it out of the first weekend in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments despite being a No. 1 seed in 2021 and a No. 4 seed in 2022.

That’s not all Cockburn’s fault. He did his job well, putting up huge numbers. Still, considering the rugged style that Illinois and other Big Ten teams have played combined with the lack of success in the NCAA Tournament, playing a more free-flowing style of basketball could lead to the Illini making deeper runs in March.

The departure of Cockburn does create some uneasiness. The roster is in a state of flux and it difficult to know what to expect in the 2022-23 season. Besides losing Cockburn, Underwood has to replace three starting guards.

Freshmen will play a big role. Illinois signed the No. 9 ranked recruiting class in the country, which includes Skyy Clark, Jayden Epps, Sencire Harris and Ty Rodgers – all players that can effectively handle the basketball. In the front court, the Illini have two players – Baylor transfer Dain Dainja and Coleman Hawkins – that can also handle the basketball.

“As the paint opens up in terms so Kofi’s presence not being there, you look for downhill guys who can get in the paint and attack the rim. I think one of the things that I’m really trying really hard to impose on our guys his spring is getting to the free throw line more. That’s by attacking,” Underwood said. “We were not a good layup team last year. It’s something we struggled with in transition. That’ll be a major emphasis. I think we’ve got guys who can bounce it, and instead of post-entering and getting the ball in the paint through that, we’re going to have to drive it.

“They’re both guys you can score the ball,” Underwood said of Clark and Epps. “Both guys that can make others better. They are guys that play downhill and guys that can go get their own. That’s very valuable. Both of them have great bodies. Both are strong and have impressive bodies for their ages, which will help them immensely.”

Underwood has long wanted Illinois to speed things up. They’ve been a good fast break at times. Ayo Dosunmu was a blur in the open court and Illinois averaged over 70 possession per game during his career. But aside from Dosunmu, the Illini haven’t had a guard that had the ability to effectively get to the rim and create shots off the bounce on a consistent basis.

The four-man recruiting class should add that element, which lessons the blow of the loss of Cockburn and overall roster turnover.

“Epps, Skyy Clark, Sencire – all three of those guys are elite, elite shot makers,” Underwood said. “Those are guys who can get the ball where they need to get it. That’ll be a different approach for us, somebody who can just somebody one-on-one. Ty’s another one who does the same thing. We set out to accomplish that in recruiting, and this staff did a good job of fulfilling those needs. So, we’ll be different, but that’s okay. I’m not afraid to change.”

The two big men expected to play a prominent role next season can also space things out.

Dainja and Hawkins’ ability to handle the basketball will also help the offense stretch the floor and not play through post-ups as much. Illinois was top-five in the country in post-up usage rate the last two seasons with Cockburn largely being responsible for that. With more spacing, Underwood thinks the 6-foot-9 can bring a more modern skillset against Big Ten teams that still employ a traditional, big-bodied center.

“He’s a guy with just a different skill set than what we’ve had,” Underwood said. “Elite handles, elite passer, right hand, left hand. For a guy that big – I call him a dancing bear – he’s just really light on his feet. He’s got some quick-twitch to him. So, he’s a just a guy that’s a unique piece at that size. Then, he’s got a 7’8 wingspan.”

The length that both Dainja and Hawkins have will be really important for the Illini on the defensive end, especially against bigger centers – like Purdue’s Zach Edey and Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson. Illinois found that smaller teams – like Ohio State and Iowa – found double teaming Cockburn to be successful on the block. Now, the Illini will likely have to employ a similar strategy with the 6-foot-9 Dainja and the 6-foot-10 Hawkins.

Both Dainja and Hawkins also bring an ability to switch defensively. Both can effectively guard three positions, and Hawkins can probably guard four or five positions if need be. Cockburn could only play one position defensively, and it left the Illini suspectable in ball screens because of Cockburn’s drop coverage.

“I think we can be elite defensively,” Underwood said. “Dain is a guy who can really more his feet. That will allow us to do multiple things in ball screen coverages. You start looking at guys with length – RJ [Melendez], Coleman, Ty, Sencire, Luke [Goode] – multiple guys who have different positions. Maybe it allows us to switch more. Maybe it allows us to pick up full court more. We’ll see how that all plays out when we’ve got the whole group together. I love guys who do something a little bit different on the offensive end but to have all that length and size to do things can cause problems on the defensive side.”

Illinois is still recruiting players through the transfer portal, and that likely includes a big and a two-way guard who can knock down shots. There could also still be more attrition in the offseason. So, the roster isn’t yet set for life after Kofi.

Cockburn had a magnificent career and will have his jersey hung in the rafters at State Farm Center. Hopefully, he goes on to a long and successful pro career. He’ll be greatly missed, but there’s a silver lining to Cockburn’s decision to move on. His departure could open up an entertaining era of up-tempo basketball at Illinois.

“I think we’ll get back to playing a little faster,” Underwood said. “Obviously, we’re excited about this freshman group and what they bring. From that standpoint, I think we’ve been excited about Dain – although he has not played a game yet, I’ll preface that. He’s extremely talented. He’s a tremendous ball-handler, passer, so the game will open up. I expect us to open the floor up a little more than with Kofi. But we still go a little time to figure all that out and see how the roster pieces together and what that looks like.”