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Illinois center Kofi Cockburn apologizes for unintentional hit on official

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Illinois center Kofi Cockburn and an official were both in the wrong place at the wrong time on Wednesday night. The result was an injured referee and an apologetic basketball player.

During Wednesday night’s game between Illinois and No. 5 Michigan, Cockburn grabbed a rebound, scored a basket and drew a foul to set up a potential three-point play late in the second half. After seeing the ball go through the net, Cockburn swung his fist in excitement, but drilled the official in the face.

That official, Lewis Garrison, dropped to the floor and had to sit out of the game a few minutes after the hit. It was obviously unintentional, but Cockburn still felt remorseful after the game. So, he issued an apology.

“Unfotunately, I hit him,” Cockburn said after the game, according to 247Sports. “I went to see him after, and I told him I was really sorry about it. He wasn’t really mad at me, but I still felt like I needed to tell him as a man that I’m sorry…”

It was an unfortunate event, but a complete accident. The official probably appreciates the apology, even when the action was unintentional.

Illinois did go on to pull off the upset and defeat No. 5 Michigan to improve to 1-1 in B1G play.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB