The Mookie Cook Blog: Upcoming Oregon Visit, Bonding with College Coaches and More

Cook and AZ Compass Prep are in strong contention to qualify for GEICO Nationals.

Mookie Cook is one of the most dominant prospects in the 2023 class with a top nine of: Arizona, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, Michigan, Oregon, Texas Tech, and UCLA. Cook, a 6’7” wing at Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.), has agreed to give Sports Illustrated exclusive access into his world by chronicling intimate details about his life on and off the court in a blog.

What’s up guys, it’s Mookie Cook and I’m back at it again with my Sports Illustrated blog!

Right now, I’m locked into my season because we want to finish strong so we can make GEICO Nationals. Our mentality is that we can’t lose any more games if we want to get in, so it’s a different level of focus, but we’re all dialed in.

We aren’t skipping steps; first we want to get there, but when we get there, we are very confident that we have what it takes to win it all. We have a lot of talent and we’re coming together as a team more and more every game.

I can see how much my game is growing this season just with my reads on ball screens, my jumper and just learning to play hard on every play in every game.

My recruitment is cool; I’m about to start taking a few visits so I’m excited about that.

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I’ve already been to Kentucky and now I’m at Oregon for an official, next week I’m at Gonzaga and then I go to Memphis on March 8.

After that, I think I’m gonna set up a visit with UCLA and Kansas.

My top nine right now is Arizona, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, Michigan, Oregon, Texas Tech, and UCLA.

I could possibly do a top five in the summer, but I’m not sure about that yet.

I could see myself committing before my senior season starts, but I just have to see how things go.

Right now, I’m just building my relationships with the coaches and that’s been a lot of fun. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that these coaches are regular people. They do what everyone else does for the most part.

Mookie Cook has starred for AZ Compass this season / DFRITZ

Just regular people.

Like when I talk to Coach (John) Calipari I see how much he cares about his players; not just the five star guys either, he really takes care of all of his guys. They go to his house for dinners and hang out together as a family and things like that. Then at Oregon, I love talking to Coach (Chris) Crutchfield; he’s just a really cool guy and we both listen to Gunna. Haha!

Coach (Mick) Cronin is always sending me NBA highlights and checking on me…

It's just cool to see these coaches personalities and how much we have in common just being normal people.

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School is going really well for me right now.

Favorite subject is definitely English; I just like to write essays and grammar. Right now, I’m working on a paper about animal relocation and it’s pretty interesting.

Music-wise, I’m listening to a lot of Baby, Gunna and Lil Durk, but I want to definitely tell you guys you need to get on that LLC by Money Man.

Trust me!

OK guys, I’ve gotta hop on this flight, but check back in later with me for my next blog!

Be safe out there.

Don’t forget to follow Mookie Cook:

Twitter: @marquiscookk

Instagram: marquiscookk