Kofi Mazeze Cockburn ( ; born 1 September 1999) is a Jamaican professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the Hiroshima Dragonflies of the Japanese B.League. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the College athletics, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's Varsity team, varsity sports. The university op ...

Early life

Cockburn was born in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

, and in 2014, moved to

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, 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 Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, and ran in

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

High school career

Cockburn first enrolled in high school at St. Andrew Technical High in Kingston, Jamaica, then

Christ the King Regional High School Christ the King Regional High School is a co-educational, college preparatory, Catholic high school for grades 9–12 located in Middle Village, Queens, New York, United States and established in 1962. It is located within the Roman Catholi ...

Middle Village, New York Middle Village is a neighborhood in the central section of the borough of Queens, New York City, bounded to the north by the Long Island Expressway, to the east by Woodhaven Boulevard, to the south by Cooper Avenue and the former LIRR Montauk B ...

. He played

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

(AAU) basketball for the New York (NY) Rens, and was teammates with his future

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

teammate Alan Griffin. During the summer of 2018 on the

Nike Elite Youth Basketball League The Nike Elite Youth Basketball League, also known as Nike EYBL, or simply EYBL, is a basketball circuit for teams of players aged 17 and under. The circuit was founded in 2010 and is composed of AAU travel teams. Both boys and girls play in the ...

(EYBL) circuit with the NY Rens, Cockburn averaged 16.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 53.9 percent from the field. Prior to his junior year, Cockburn was selected to participate in the 2017

Basketball Without Borders Basketball Without Borders is a basketball instructional camp organized by the NBA in conjunction with FIBA. It presents itself as a “basketball development and community outreach program that unites young basketball players to promote the sport ...

Americas camp that was held in

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...

. After his junior season, Cockburn was named to the World Team for the 2018

Nike Hoop Summit The Nike Hoop Summit is an international basketball all-star game sponsored by Nike, Inc., Nike, held once a year, which features the USA Basketball Men's Junior Select Team against a World Select Team of international players. The players demons ...

. For his senior season, Cockburn transferred to Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia, where he was teammates with fellow five-star recruits

Cole Anthony Cole Hilton Anthony (born May 15, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels. Listed at and , he pla ...

and Cameron Thomas.

Recruiting

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 Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, St. John's,

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

and

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

. Citing his relationship with Illinois assistant coach Orlando Antigua and the rest of the Illinois coaching staff, Cockburn committed to playing college basketball for

on 6 January 2019. Cockburn was a consensus four-star recruit and was considered a top 50 player in the 2019 class.

College career

2019–20 season

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 The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

. Cockburn was named

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

player of the week on 25 November 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 The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...

. On 11 December 2020, Cockburn had 19 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in a 71–62 victory over fifth-ranked

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, Illinois' first win over a top-five program since 2013. At the close of the regular season, Cockburn was named

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 The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecticut, wi ...

2020–21 season

On August 1, Cockburn announced he was pulling out of the draft and returning for his sophomore season. As a sophomore, Cockburn averaged 17.7 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, shooting 65.4 percent from the field. He was a Second Team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and First Team All-Big Ten selection. Following the season, he declared for the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. The NBA draft returned to Brooklyn after 2020 NBA draft, the pre ...

and entered the transfer portal.

2021–22 season

Cockburn ultimately returned for his junior season at Illinois. He was suspended for the first three games of his junior season due to selling apparel and memorabilia. On 26 November 2021, Cockburn scored a career-high 38 points along with 10 rebounds in a 94–85 win against Texas–Rio Grande Valley. He was named to the First Team All-

. As a junior, Cockburn averaged 20.9 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. On 20 April 2022, he declared for the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New ...

, forgoing his remaining college eligibility.

Professional career

Cockburn went undrafted in the

. He then signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

. His contract wasn't picked up by the Jazz. On 16 November 2022, Cockburn signed with the Niigata Albirex of the Japanese B. League. He averaged 19 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. On 20 June 2023, Cockburn signed with the

Seoul Samsung Thunders Seoul Samsung Thunders () is a professional basketball team, competing in the Korean Basketball League. Ever since the club was founded in 1978, they have been associated with Samsung Electronics. Initially based in Suwon, they relocated to Seoul ...

of the

Korean Basketball League The Korean Basketball League () or simply KBL is a professional men's basketball league in South Korea which was established in 1997. The league consists of ten teams and each team plays a total of 54 games (27 home and 27 away) in the regular s ...

(KBL). In May 2024, Cockburn re-signed with the Seoul Samsung Thunders. On 19 May 2025, Cockburn signed with the Hiroshima Dragonflies of the Japanese B.League.

Career statistics

Domestic leagues

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:right;" ! Year ! Team ! League ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! , - , style="text-align:left;", 2022–23 , style="text-align:left;", Niigata , style="text-align:center;", B.League , 49 , , 43 , , 32.3 , , .571 , , – , , .607 , , 12.2 , , 1.9 , , .7 , , .8 , , 19.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , style="text-align:left;", Seoul Samsung , style="text-align:center;", KBL , 48 , , 43 , , 28.9 , , .576 , , – , , .623 , , 11.8 , , 2.3 , , .5 , , .8 , , 23.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2024–25 , style="text-align:left;", Seoul Samsung , style="text-align:center;", KBL , 25 , , 18 , , 24.4 , , .588 , , – , , .656 , , 10.2 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , .5 , , 17.5

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 31 , , 27.4 , , .532 , , .000 , , .677 , , 8.8 , , .6 , , .5 , , 1.4 , , 13.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2020–21 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 31 , , 27.0 , , .654 , , – , , .553 , , 9.5 , , .2 , , .3 , , 1.3 , , 17.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 28 , , 28 , , 30.7 , , .593 , , – , , .655 , , 10.6 , , .8 , , .8 , , 1.0 , , 20.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 90 , , 90 , , 28.3 , , .596 , , .000 , , .623 , , 9.6 , , .5 , , .6 , , 1.2 , , 17.2

References

External links

Illinois Fighting Illini bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cockburn, Kofi 1999 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players Basketball players from Kingston, Jamaica Centers (basketball) Expatriate basketball people in Japan Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players Jamaican emigrants to the United States Jamaican expatriate basketball people in South Korea Jamaican men's basketball players Niigata Albirex BB players Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia) alumni Seoul Samsung Thunders players