Brad Underwood provides injury update on Illinois star Kofi Cockburn

When Illinois takes on Maryland on Friday, it’ll be without star big man Kofi Cockburn.

Cockburn suffered a concussion in Monday’s game against Purdue and won’t be available against the Terps, Illini coach Brad Underwood told Stadium’s Jeff Goodman. His status for Tuesday’s game against Michigan State is still unclear.

Cockburn leads the Illini with 21.1 points and 11.8 rebounds per game this season. The Big Ten preseason player of the year, he only played 10 minutes against Purdue due to the injury, scoring five points and grabbing five rebounds in Illinois’ 2OT loss to the Boilermakers.

After helping lead Illinois to a Big Ten tournament title last season, Cockburn tested the NBA Draft and entered the transfer portal. He withdrew from the draft and ended up heading back to Champaign for one more go-round with Illinois.

The Fighting Illini are 13-4 overall and 6-1 in Big Ten action this season. They came in at No. 17 in the latest AP Top 25 after putting up a hard fight against No. 4 Purdue on Monday.

Tip-off between Illinois and Maryland is coming up Friday night at 7 p.m. ET on FS1.

Illinois basketball announces arrival of midseason transfer

Former Baylor center Dain Dainja, who played three games this season, transferred to Illinois for the spring semester, according to a press release. The former four-star recruit redshirted the 2020-21 season but practiced with the Bears on their way to a national championship.

Dainja posted six points and three rebounds in nine minutes for Baylor this season before transferring to Illinois. While he has not produced at a high level yet, he brings plenty upside with his 6-foot-9, 270-pound frame and 7-foot-7 wingspan.

According to the press release, Dain Dainja cannot participate in Illinois games until the 2022-23 season. However, he will be allowed to practice and train with the team immediately while enrolled in classes.

In addition to the announcement from the school, head coach Brad Underwood issued a statement on the midseason move which helps prepare active centers Kofi Cockburn, Omar Payne and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk.

“Dain is a young man that we evaluated out of high school and loved his skill set at his size,” Underwood said in a statement. “He has great physical attributes, 7-7 length, a strong upper body, and a versatile game to either post up or put the ball on the floor and beat you off the dribble and with his passing. He’s an interior player that you can run offense through. Dain was part of a Baylor team that won an NCAA title, and we’re looking forward to him having a semester of practice with us and a full off-season of work with Fletch prior to suiting up next season.”