Oregon Basketball: Profile of five-star class of 2023 commit Mookie Cook
Who is Mookie Cook?
Mookie Cook is around 6’7″ 200 lb., phenomenal wing out of Portland, Oregon. A consensus 5-star recruit that even some recruiting databases have as a top-5 player. He was recruited by all the major programs, having a plethora of choices to pick anywhere he wanted to go to play college basketball.
Ultimately, Gonzaga, Kentucky and Oregon were the final three finalists competing for Cook’s signature.
March 10th the state of Oregon and UO faithful rejoiced when Cook announced out of the three aforementioned finalists he would stay home and play for Oregon during the 2023-24 season. Becoming the long-awaited prophesied in-state commit.
With the current NIL money being so fruitful regarding amateur players being able to market themselves, it is a perfect marriage. UO and the community can market Cook as their golden child. Currently tied for the highest recruit in the modern recruiting era for Oregon basketball Cook is undoubtedly the poster boy of Oregon basketball.
Cook already has direct ties to UO with his sister, Chaquinn Cook, previously running for the Track and Field program. He always stated in interviews that he wanted a home atmosphere, familiarity with potential teammates, a strong relationship with the coach, and to be made a priority when choosing a school. UO checked all those boxes.
Unfortunately, residents of Oregon have to wait to watch Cook in person as he is down southwest in Arizona playing high school basketball.
After a two impactful years at Jefferson High School which is located in the heart of Portland, it was time for new challenges. Cook now attends up-and-coming powerhouse program AZ Compass Prep. Transferring to AZ Compass came down to playing on a national circuit schedule, the uncertainties of the ongoing pandemic and just playing against top competition night-in night-out.
Not to knock basketball in Oregon but the exposure and level of competition was a clear deciding factor for Cook taking that jump to build upon his national ranking. It would have hurt him staying in that situation going forward and not challenge himself on skills and specific next-level material he should eventually know. Cook took the steps to furthering his development by going to AZ Compass.
Cook’s stock really started to rise when he was in the 8th grade playing for Northcoast Blue Chips; he started to receive national acclaim accompanied by his budding fame within Portland basketball circles. Playing on the Blue Chips alongside LeBron “Bronny” James Jr. helps your case too. The amount of exposure Bronny brings to his teammates is unprecedented in the youth basketball world. Nevertheless, it gave a good portion of basketball fans their first impression of Cook.
Last year’s summer circuit playing with Oakland Soldiers (16U) on the Nike EYBL Circuit, Cook posted averages of 13.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, and 2.7 apg. This year [it hasn’t been officially confirmed] it has been rumoured that he will be joining forces at Team WhyNot (CA) with other top recruits Kylan Boswell (teammate at AZ Compass), Dusty Stromer, and Jared McCain.
A team that won the 16U Nike EYBL Peach Jam championship last year. Cook has a strong chance to build upon his name in the basketball community for those who may not know him but also help Team WhyNot repeat as Peach Jam champs.
(via TeamWhyNot /Instagram)