INTEL: Ranking the contenders for five-star Mookie Cook

Mookie Cook is the No. 12 ranked player in the 2023 On3 Consensus. The 6-foot-7 forward spent the better part of March through June on set playing Lebron James in an upcoming film ‘Shooting Stars.’ 

The five-star made it back for Nike’s Peach Jam, where he quickly shook off the rust and averaged 12.0-points, 9.0-rebounds, 3.5-assists, and 2.2-steals per game.

Cook’s recruitment caught headlines as well. He committed to Oregon in March. Then the Chandler (AZ) AZ Compass forward de-committed from Oregon at the end of June. Cook announced earlier this week he will be making a commitment on Friday, August 12.

Cook’s final three schools were Oregon, Kentucky, and Gonzaga the first time around. Arizona reached out and tried to get an official visit after Cook de-committed. The G-League Ignite program has remained in the picture throughout.

Let’s collect all our sourced intel and rank the contenders.

1. Oregon

Mookie Cook is originally from Portland, Oregon, which is less than two hours away from Eugene. He has a great relationship with the staff and felt comfortable enough with the program to commit there once. 

What has changed since he de-committed? Oregon added a commitment from 2023 On3 Consensus No. 5 Kwame Evans. Surrounded by more talent now, Dana Altman and staff have done an excellent job answering any questions Cook, and his group has had. 

Oregon’s chances: 80-percent

2. G-League Ignite

This direction was where all the signs pointed once Cook de-committed in June. The program has been a constant with Cook and his group and has been able to hang around throughout the duration of his recruitment. 

There was real traction here.

G-League Ignite’s chances: 15-percent

3. Arizona

Arizona made a push. Head coach Tommy Lloyd tried to set up a visit, but after On3 broke the news that five-star Kwame Evans would be going to Oregon, things died between the two sides. 

Arizona’s chances: 3-percent

4. Gonzaga/Kentucky

While both programs reached out to Cook, there was not much traction with either program.

Gonzaga/Kentucky’s chances: 1-percent each

Final intel

When Mookie Cook de-committed, the prevailing thought throughout the industry was Kwame Evans was going to Arizona. The second On3 broke the news Evans would be going to Oregon; things started to shift. 

Cook already has his good friend and travel ball point guard, four-star Jackson Shelstad, committed to Eugene. Cook also has an older sister, Chaquinn Cook, who was a two-time track and field All-American at Oregon. 

There are a lot of ties bringing Cook to Oregon, where he originally wanted to be. Kwame Evans was the icing on the cake.

On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine

On July 30, I reset my expert pick in On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM) for Mookie Cook to choose Oregon.

The On3 engineering group teamed up with Spiny.ai to create the industry’s first algorithm and machine learning-based product to predict where athletes will attend college. Starting from the ground up, On3 built an entirely new product that utilizes data, human expertise, and machine learning.