Illinois Investigating Racist Message Sent To Basketball Star
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MARCH 19: Kofi Cockburn #21 of the Illinois Fighting Illini takes the court before the first round game of the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament against the Drexel Dragons at Indiana Farmers Coliseum on March 19, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
On Sunday, Illinois basketball suffered one of the biggest upsets of the NCAA Tournament so far. The Fighting Illini, the Midwest Region No. 1 seed and one of the favorites to win the entire Tournament, fell to resurgent Cinderella Loyola Chicago, the No. 8 seed, 71-58. Unfortunately, the ugly part of sports fandom reared its ugly head once again, this time directed at Illini star big man Kofi Cockburn.
No player deserves online harassment after a loss, and certainly not Cockburn after his effort on Sunday. He led all scorers with 21 points and added nine rebounds, two steals, and two blocks against the Ramblers.
According to ESPN, Kofi Cockburn shared a racist post that someone aimed at him after the loss, writing "I blame his parents" in response. The Illinois basketball center's post of the comment has since been deleted, but the school is reportedly investigating the matter.
The comment came just a day after Ohio State's E.J. Liddell was on the receiving end of similar harassment, following the No. 2 seed Buckeyes' first-round loss to 15-seed Oral Roberts. Like Illinois, Ohio State is investigating the threats made against Liddell.
Illinois' spokesperson told ESPN that the commenter in question has been "identified by others on social media."
There's truly no excuse for racist language like this towards any player. There are great things that come from sports fandom, but this is one of the really ugly parts of the experience that we can hopefully get rid of in due time.
[ESPN]
