Kofi Cockburn

Prior to his senior high school season at Oak Hill Academy, Cockburn held 26 scholarship offers and narrowed the list of schools he was considering to 12 which included Cincinnati, Connecticut, Florida State, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, LSU, Oregon, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, St. John's and Syracuse. Citing his relationship with Illinois assistant coach Orlando Antigua and the rest of the Illinois coaching staff, Cockburn verbally committed to Illinois on January 6, 2019. Cockburn was a four-star recruit and was considered a top player in the 2019 class.

Cockburn first enrolled in high school at Christ the King Regional High School in Middle Village, New York. He played Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for the New York (NY) Rens, and was teammates with his future Illinois teammate Alan Griffin. During the summer of 2018 on the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) circuit with the NY Rens, Cockburn averaged 16.3 points and 10.3 rebounds, while shooting 53.9 percent from the field. Prior to his junior year, Cockburn was selected to participate in the 2017 Basketball Without Borders Americas camp that was held in Nassau, Bahamas. After his junior season, Cockburn was named to the World Team for the 2018 Nike Hoop Summit. For his senior season, Cockburn transferred to Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia where he was teammates with fellow five–star recruit Cole Anthony.

Cockburn was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and in 2014, moved to Queens, New York, to be with his mother, who had moved to Queens in 2009.. In addition to his participation in basketball at a young age, Cockburn also played soccer, cricket, and ran in track and field.

In his debut for Illinois, Cockburn had 10 points and 11 rebounds to help defeat Nicholls 78–70 in overtime. The following game, Cockburn scored 23 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in a 83–71 win over Grand Canyon. Cockburn was named Big Ten player of the week on November 25 after setting a school freshman record for rebounds in a game with 17 to go along with 18 points in a win versus The Citadel. On December 11, Cockburn had 19 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in a 71–62 victory over 5th ranked Michigan, Illinois' first win over a top-five program since 2013. However, his play was overshadowed by an incident in which he accidentally hit the official Lewis Garrison, who fell to the floor and left the game. At the close of the regular season, Cockburn was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. He was selected to the Third Team All-Big Ten by the media and was Honorable Mention All-Conference according to the coaches. As a freshman, Cockburn was Illinois’ second-leading scorer and top rebounder, averaging 13.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game while leading the Illini with 1.4 blocks per game. He shot 53.2 percent from the floor and 67.7 percent at the foul line. Following the season, he declared for the 2020 NBA draft.

Kofi Cockburn (born September 1, 1999) is a Jamaican college basketball player for the Illinois Fighting Illini of the Big Ten Conference.