Cockburn, Minott secure NCAA tourney spots

Despite not winning their respective conference tournament championships, Jamaican basketballers Kofi Cockburn and Josh Minott will have their chance at college basketball glory in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

The 68-team tournament bracket was revealed on Sunday, which saw Cockburn and the University of Illinois qualify for the competition as the number four seed in the South Region, while Minott, who is in his freshman year with the University of Memphis, was selected as the ninth seed in the West Region.

Memphis will face eighth seed Boise State University on Thursday, while Illinois will play 13th seed Chattanooga in the first round on Friday in their first-round matchup.

Cockburn is coming off a first-team All American selection season in his junior year where he is averaging 21 points per game and 10.6 rebounds per game. Despite another 20-point performance, Illinois were beaten by Indiana in the quarterfinals of the Big 10 tournament last Friday.

National basketball head coach Rick Turner says that he is more focused on Cockburn making a smooth transition to the NBA and wants his professional future secured before any plans to include him in international tournaments.

"What Kofi needs to do is to take care of his professional career that is about to embark on," Turner told STAR Sports. "Whether that be this year or another year from now. He has another year of eligibility if he wants at Illinois and he is going to make that decision in a month or so whether or not he puts his name back in the draft. But that's where I want his success to come first."

Cockburn has opted out of the NBA draft twice to return to college. Illinois are looking to improve on last year's showing when they were eliminated in the second round of the tournament by Loyola University Chicago. Illinois won a share of the Big 10 regular-season title with a 15-5 conference record and an overall record of 22-9.

Meanwhile, Minott is averaging 6.9 points per game with Memphis under head coach former NBA All-Star Penny Hardaway. His season high was 18 points on January 23 in their win against Tulsa. Memphis advanced to yesterday's American Athletic Conference (AAC) championship game but were beaten by Houston 71-53. Memphis are making their first NCAA Men's Tournament appearance since 2014 after finishing third in the AAC conference with a 21-10 record.