Some big news came through B1G country on the basketball side last week with Illinois center Kofi Cockburn announced that he’ll be returning to Champaign for another season. It was a huge boost for Brad Underwood’s team.

Cockburn had been considering transferring from Illinois to complete his college career and also entered his name into the NBA Draft. However, the All-B1G center chose to return and play for the Fighting Illini for one more season.

Cockburn was excellent as a sophomore with the Illini, scoring 17.7 points per game en route to second-team All-American honors. He helped lead the Illini to a Big Ten Tournament championship and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

After the news broke, Big Ten Network contributor Andy Katz provided his updated power rankings. The Illini made a leap up to No. 3 in the latest rankings.

Here’s a look at the update power rankings from Katz following the news:

  1. Purdue
  2. Michigan
  3. Illinois
  4. Ohio State
  5. Maryland
  6. Indiana
  7. Michigan State
  8. Wisconsin
  9. Rutgers
  10. Iowa
  11. Northwestern
  12. Nebraska
  13. Penn State
  14. Minnesota