All Bruins

Elite 2023 Wing Prospect Mookie Cook Lists UCLA Men's Basketball in Top 7

The consensus top-five player is considering the Bruins along with Kentucky, Oregon, Gonzaga, Arizona and others.

Benjamin Royer

(Photo Courtesy of Mookie Cook/Instagram)

The Bruins have earned a spot in the top nine for an elite West Coast forward.

Class of 2023 small forward Mookie Cook has included UCLA men’s basketball as one of the nine semifinalists in his recruitment. Tuesday morning, Cook announced Arizona, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, Oregon and Texas Tech as the other possible destinations alongside the blue and gold.

Cook had also previously secured offers from Arizona State, Auburn, Cal, Michigan, USC and Washington.

Accompanied by his announcement with On3, Cook expressed why he might select each top nine school, including UCLA.

“Mick Cronin kind of stands for himself,” Cook said. “That’s the man. That’s the man on the west coast. So UCLA would be a great place to be, California.”

According to the 247Sports Composite, ESPN and Rivals, Cook is a five-star prospect along with being a consensus top-five player in the 2023 recruiting class. On the 247 Composite, the Compass Prep (AZ) product is the No. 4 overall player in the country, while on ESPN he is No. 3 and Rivals has Cook listed at No. 2.

While not currently having an official visit planned to Westwood, Cook told On3 that he would like to plan a future visit with UCLA, as well as regional foe Gonzaga. The 6-foot-7 forward already has a visit planned for the Bruins’ Pac-12 rival Oregon, which also happened to be Cook’s home state before he started going to high school in Arizona.

Even without the geographical ties of their competitors, UCLA has certain things going for it in Cook’s recruitment.

Dylan Andrews, a four-star guard and a member of the Bruins 2022 recruiting class, has already signed his national letter of intent with UCLA and is a teammate of Cook at Compass Prep.

On a high-profile high school squad that includes Andrews, five-star guard Kylan Boswell, four-star forward Chance Westry, four-star forward Sadraque Nganga and more, Cook is scoring the fourth-most on his team through 14 games, averaging 11.7 points a night.

Offering Cook on June 15, UCLA took things to the next level with the enticing wing on the early side and is one of three Pac-12 schools still battling for his commitment.

In December 2020, Cook was asked to give a scouting report of himself by Stock Risers, and he commented on his all-around malleability and versatility.

“I play both sides of the ball, offense, and defense. I can facilitate, I’m very versatile at 6-foot-7, I can guard any position 1-4, run the court hard and can shoot the three as well as bring the ball up. All-around game and I’m a team player.”

Cook’s versatility could eventually be on display at Pauley Pavilion, but UCLA has a long way to go before it can earn his commitment. The Bruins do not have a commit for their 2023 class as of yet, but they do have 15 offers out and are a semifinalist for several of those prospects.

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Benjamin Royer
BENJAMIN ROYER

Benjamin Royer is a contributing writer at All Bruins, in association with the FanNation and Sports Illustrated networks. Royer is a third-year student at UCLA, where he is a Sports contributor for the school's award-winning student-run newspaper, The Daily Bruin. Royer was previously the Sports Editor at The Valley Star, Los Angeles Valley College's independent newspaper, and he helped develop the Twinger Talk YouTube channel and The Double Play podcast. He is also a professional actor, previously appearing in programs on Showtime, ABC, Disney Channel, FOX and CBS.