Turner: Cockburn’s development should not be rushed

NATIONAL SENIOR men’s basketball head coach, Rick Turner, says that Jamaican basketball player, Kofi Cockburn, must be allowed to develop at his own pace as he prepares for his junior college basketball season.

Cockburn will be among the Jamaican contingent that will begin their 2021-22 college basketball season’s on Tuesday with aspirations of qualifying and winning the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

The field of national players this season includes the University of Memphis’ Josh Minott, who will be entering his rookie season, as well as Calabar High alum, Jordan Kellier, who has switched from the University of Utah to Siena College in New York.

Cockburn returns to the University of Illinois for his junior season after withdrawing from the 2021 NBA Draft. He is coming off a 2020-21 campaign where he was named Second Team All American and First Team All Big Ten.

Turner says that while there is anticipation and expectation for Cockburn, he cautioned local fans to be patient with the development process of the centre and expects that he will have another solid campaign.

GREAT YEAR

“I think he is going to have a great year. I think it’s going to be difficult for their team to match the success that they had last year because they lost Ayo (Dosunmu), their leading scorer and they had a number one seed (in the 2021 NCAA tournament),” Turner told The Sunday Gleaner. “It’s going to be hard to follow up that year. But they have great players coming back, they have one of the best coaches in the country in coach (Brad) Underwood. So we will watch him closely and root for him and hope for great things.”

Cockburn, however, will miss the first three games of the season after violating NCAA policy in selling “institutionally issued apparel and memorabilia” in June, when the sale was not going to be legal until July, under their new policy.

While he has had to defer his NBA draft option twice, Turner says that the extra time in college will benefit him in the long run.

“There are too many cautionary tales of players that have left out of college early following dollar signs in their eyes and expecting big things and then them not happening for them because they weren’t ready for one reason or another and then they don’t have a degree to fall back on.

“And I think that another year, getting better, working on the things that are successful for the NBA players will do nothing but help Kofi when that time comes, whenever it is.”

Meanwhile, as Minott prepares for his debut season, Turner says that he expects that his work ethic will allow him to earn the required minutes under Memphis head coach and former NBA All-Star, Penny Hardaway.

“I know that he is a hard worker and I expect that he will find his way. If he lights it up right away, good for him. He will find himself in a category of those that are very few and far between, but if he takes some lumps and faces some challenges and hits some roadblocks along the way, not only will those make him stronger, but he will also be in a category of players that is long and distinguished. So I think the thing to do is fight frustration and persevere.

Memphis have been ranked 12th overall in the Associated Press preseason poll, while Illinois are ranked above them at 11th.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com