2018 Nike EYBL & E16 Boys Finals At Peach Jam

Kofi Cockburn Talks St. John's, UConn, And Upcoming Visits

Kofi Cockburn Talks St. John's, UConn, And Upcoming Visits

Kofi Cockburn, the 6-foot-11 big man from the NY Rens and Christ the King High School, will be one of the featured attractions at next week's Peach Jam.

Jul 5, 2018 by Adam Zagoria
Kofi Cockburn Talks St. John's, UConn, And Upcoming Visits

Kofi Cockburn, the 6-foot-11 big man from the NY Rens and Christ the King High School, will be one of the featured attractions at next week's Peach Jam.

Cockburn is five-star prospect ranked No. 23 by ESPN.com and No. 24 by Rivals.com.

A slew of coaches figures to be watching Cockburn and his Rens teammates. He recently took unofficial visits to St. John's and UConn, and he hopes to visit Illinois, Pittsburgh, and Kansas in August.

"I'm really excited [about Peach Jam]," Cockburn said Thursday by phone. "I'm just trying to go out there and play with my teammates and win everything."

 Watch Peach Jam LIVE on FloHoops July 11-15!

Cockburn will be focusing in on colleges later this summer and fall.

He took an unofficial visit to St. John's on June 26.

"It was good," he said. "It's close to home. Chris Mullin's a pro, obviously. And my parents would come out and watch me if I went there. My mother's from Queens."



He added: "He said I would come in and be a star and make a big impact on the team."

Since he plays high school in New York, the appeal of potentially playing at Madison Square Garden is real.

"It's really appealing," he said.

St. John's also hosted 2019 stars Scottie Lewis and Precious Achiuwa, two New Jersey-based stars, as well.

"Those are the only two I know about," Cockburn said.

Cockburn also knows new St. John's guard Mustapha Heron, who transferred from Auburn and is looking to get a waiver to play immediately because his mother is ill.

"He said it's a good environment and it's close to home," Cockburn said.

Three days after the St. John's visit, he tripped to UConn.

"They just talked to me about the four championships and he's got experience as a coach," he said of coach Dan Hurley. "They have a good coaching staff and a nice facility."



During his visit, Cockburn also spoke with fellow Jamaican Kentan Facey, a former UConn player who was also mentored by Steve Johnson and Karriem Memminger.

"Kentan talked to him a lot about the culture and about how Dan Hurley is a helluva coach," Memminger said. "He works out with them from time to time."

In August, Cockburn will try to visit Illinois, Pittsburgh, and Kansas before he goes home to Jamaica for a vacation.

"[Illinois assistant Oliver] Antigua is a New York guy," Memminger said. "He recruited him really hard. He's a top priority for Illinois for bigs and Antigua did a helluva job recruiting him.

"Pittsburgh has Jeff Capel, he is rebuilding the program there," Memminger added. "Kofi would be a main focal point of what they're trying to do over there. And Capel obviously saw him when he was at Duke and really likes Kofi."

"Kansas, Norm Roberts, New York City guy," he added. "He's been on Kofi for a while now, been recruiting him really hard there."

Cockburn also has several other events planned for later this summer, including the Slam All-Star Game at Dyckman Park in August.

Next spring, Cockburn also hopes to play in the McDonald's All-American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic.

Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who runs ZAGSBLOG.com and contributes to The New York Times. Follow Adam on Twitter.

Related Content