Silvio De Sousa
Kofi Cockburn is a massive human being.
This is not exactly breaking news, as the 7-0 and 285 pound junior All-American has used his gigantic frame and deft touch to put up 20 and 10 for the Fighting Illini all season. In a matter of months, he will probably hear his name called in the NBA draft, where a team will gamble on that productivity and size translating to the highest level.
So yeah, Chattanooga’s Mocs drew one heck of a first-round matchup as a 13 seed in Pittsburgh.
But unlike so many of the SoCon’s past representatives, who are usually undersized compared to their power five counterparts, the Mocs have a realistic chance to not get mauled under the rims.
A primary reason for that is a man name Silvio De Sousa.
He isn’t quite as big as Cockburn, standing at only 6-9 and 250 pounds. But he is still weighty enough to wrestle with Illinois’ titan in the middle. And it’s not the first time De Sousa has gone against NBA talent in the tournament. Back in 2018, a younger De Sousa had to guard Duke’s lottery picks Wendell Carter Jr. and Marvin Bagley in a 85-81 win.
“That’s gonna be a great opportunity, and this is the kind of game I came here for,” De Sousa says. “I’m just looking forward to playing against him. I believe we played in high school. I think it’s going to be really good playing against him.”
The Mocs also have a few other players to throw at Cockburn. Avery Diggs is stout on the block but at times lacks foot speed, which means he should match up well against an old-school five like Cockburn. Josh Ayeni is frenetic and can stretch the defense with a solid jumpshot, and Jaden Frazier is also a taller player who might see minutes.
“It’s just a sport where guys oftentime have to do both things (by playing well on offense and defense), and oftentime one is related to the other,” coach Lamont Paris says. “I’ll have high expectations for Silvio on both sides of the floor. We’ve got three or four bodies we can put in there and throw against Kofi too.”
Make no mistake though, Illinois isn’t just Kofi and the seven dwarfs. There’s no way Illinois would be 22-9 and the regular season Big 10 champs if that were the case. Surrounding Cockburn are three guards in Alfonso Plummer, Trent Frazier and Jacob Grandison. All three hit double-digits in the PPG department this year. The Mocs match up well, boasting one of the best backcourts in mid-majordom: David Jean-Baptiste and SoCon Player of the Year Malachi Smith.
“I had an opportunity to go to the NIT my freshman year (with Wright State), then I had to redshirt, and then COVID took the opportunity away from us after that,” Smith says. “So I’m very excited to go and make the most of the opportunity.”
Jean-Baptiste, the sixth-year senior and program legend after hitting the shot that sent the Mocs to the dance, has a bit of history with Frazier. The fifth-year super-senior was a four-star recruit coming out of the same South Florida area Jean-Baptiste hails from.
“We played on the same AAU team for a year,” Jean-Baptiste said. “Maybe in middle school? We played more against each other, so we’ve got a little history.”
Like every other team in the tournament, Illinois is a talented team with few weaknesses for the Mocs to exploit. Coach Paris, who was an assistant at Wisconsin from 2011 to 2017, will use his connections in the conference to unearth the few that exist.
“They’ve got some new assistants and their staff has changed up a little bit, but I’m familiar with their head coach (Brad Underwood) at a general level,” coach Paris said. “He’s a really good coach and does a great job with them. I’ll call in a couple favors from some coaches in the Big 10 and try to get some info in preparing for them.”
But at the end of the day, whether or not Chattanooga can slow down Illinois' biggest (literally) strength will determine whether or not they advance past Friday’s game. And this will likely come down to De Sousa playing one of the best games of his life on the sport’s biggest stage.
“It’s going to be king versus king, and may the best king win,” Jean-Baptiste says. “It’s gonna be a great game and it’s gonna be awesome.”
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