It was about a year ago that Pete Kaffey, program director at Arizona Compass, was telling anyone who would listen just how good point guard TyTy Washington was.
     Now he’s spreading the word about another Arizona Compass player — 6-7 junior forward Mookie Cook.
     “He’s a big, long athletic wing that can play four positions,” said Kaffey. “He’s a great teammate. He plays well on both sides of the ball. He competes at a crazy level every day. He’s a really good passer.
     “He’s a five-star player for a reason and he’s getting better every day. The kid has put himself in a position to where he can play at a place like Kentucky and maybe be a high draft pick one day.”
     Cook already has over 20 Division I scholarship offers, including one from Kentucky. The only official visit he’s taken so far is Kentucky.
     Kaffey says Cook’s versatility makes him different. At 6-7, he can initiate the offense and he can go inside to guard bigs.
     “He can score. Defensively, he’s just a monster because of the energy he has. I watched him volleyball a kid’s shot off the backboard in practice and then get out on the fast break to finish it with a tip dunk. He just has that kind of motor, but he also has a pretty high basketball IQ. I really think he’s a prototypical NBA wing.”
     Kaffey said Arizona Compass coach Ed Gibson gets players to play with a purpose, something that helped Washington. This is Cook’s first year at Arizona Compass after he played the previous two years in Oregon.
     “These kids come here to compete and get better. He’s very coachable. He is 6-7 and jumps like he has a trampoline in his shoes,” Kaffey said. “He really passes the eyeball test. He looks like that sexy girl on the beach that makes you just say, ‘Wow,’ when you see her. Mookie is the same way when you see him in the gym and he’s always working hard to get better.”
     Recruiting is going well for Cook who leans on his family to help him with the process.
     “I know he embraces the recruiting process but every school that lays

eyes on him offers him,” Kaffey said. “He’s ranked where he is for a reason.”
     Kaffey admits that a program like Kentucky with its history resonates with Cook.
     “He has other great universities recruiting him but it is Kentucky,” Kaffey said. “It probably helps that he is friends with TyTy and Mookie can call him and get feedback.
     “Over the past few months since we got in contact with Kentucky about him a lot of other people have called and let them know about him. I’ll just say for me it’s kind of the same way I told them about TyTy and now he’s the best player at Kentucky. Mookie could be the same way.”
     Kentucky fans will have a chance to watch Cook and Arizona Compass play during the McCracken County Mustang Madness Jan. 6-9. By then 6-2 junior point guard Kylan Boswell might also have a Kentucky offer.
     He was regarded as the top sophomore in California last season before transferring to Arizona Compass. He led his 16-and-under team to a EYBL championship and also made the USA Under-16 team. Boswell has got recent scholarship offers from Michigan, Florida, Oregon, Auburn and Arizona State to go with ones he already had from Kansas, Louisville, Illinois, Creighton, George Mason, USC, UCLA, Texas, Arizona, Texas Tech and Stanford
     “Kylan doesn't have a Kentucky offer yet but he is a no-brainer,” Kaffey said.

Junior Mookie Cook works out with trainer Chad Dunn, who also trained UK freshman TyTy Washington when he played at Arizona Compass.

     A 6-0 start put Kentucky in great shape to think about everything from the national championship playoffs to a New Year’s Day bowl game to a 10- or 11-win season.
     Now consecutive losses to No. 1 Georgia, Mississippi State and now Tennessee 45-42 when UK had 99 plays and over 600 yards of offense have deflated much of the Kentucky fan base.
     However, with games left against Vanderbilt, New Mexico State and Louisville, Kentucky can still have a historic season.
     Kentucky has won 10 or more games three times — 1950, 1977 and 2018 — in 129 years. Kentucky has won nine games three times — 1904, 1909 and 1984 — in 129 years. Kentucky has won eight games six times — 1947, 1951, 1976, 2006, 2007 and 2019 — in 129 years.
     That means Kentucky has won eight or more games only seven times since 1950. If the Cats win out, they would be 9-3 going into a bowl game. Even if UK wins just two of the next three, it would be 8-4 going into a bowl game.
     Kentucky coach Mark Stoops made no excuses after Tennessee shredded his defense even easier than Mississippi State did a week earlier. In the last two games, opposing quarterbacks have completed 51 of 59 passes for 660 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions.
     “We’ve been a part of so many games where we've played so good on one side of the ball, maybe defensively and just come up a little bit short on the other side,” Stoops said after the Tennessee game. “We're a team. We'll stick together. They're all big boys. We can all handle the criticism and the things that come with it.”
     Senior defensive end Abule Adabi-Fitzgerald,

Kentucky quarterback Will Levis leaped over Tennessee defenders to score in last week's loss but UK still has a chance to win more games than most UK teams have in the last 70 years. (Vicky Graff Photo)

who got the first two sacks of his career against Tennessee and also forced a fumble, said not to worry about the Cats losing faith going into Saturday night’s game at Vanderbilt.
     “Go in and just have faith, and the only way we are going to have faith is keeping our mindset up and keep getting better. There's nothing else to it,” he said.

     Southeastern Conference media members picked Kentucky to again win the SEC regular-season championship and most oddsmakers also have UK as the team to beat in conference play. However, CBS Sports’ expert panel has the Cats picked to finish third in the SEC behind Alabama and Arkansas.
     Alabama won the league title and SEC tourney championship last year and returns its top two scorers — Jaden Shackleford and Jahvon Quinerly, the CBS Sports Preseason SEC Player of the Year after averaging 12.9 points, 3.2 assists and 2.2 rebounds as a redshirt sophomore. Coach Nate Oats also has a top-15 recruiting class.
     Arkansas lost four of its top six scorers off last year’s NCAA Elite Eight team,

including NBA lottery pick Moses Moody. At least three transfers are expected to start for Arkansas.
     Kentucky also dipped heavily into the transfer portal and could also start three transfers — Sahvir Wheeler, Kellan Grady and Oscar Tshiebwe. Kentucky is the highest rated SEC team in the media poll at No. 10.
     CBS Sports' Matt Norlander and Jerry Palm picked Kentucky to finish second in the SEC behind Alabama and Tennessee while Gary Parrish picked the Wildcats third. Kyle Boone and David Cobb placed Kentucky in fourth place. None chose Kentucky to win the SEC.

     A major in-state target for Kentucky football in the 2023 class is Corbin athlete Dakota Patterson who also has offers from Pittsburgh, Purdue, Memphis, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Eastern Kentucky. Ohio State and Tennessee are among the other schools showing interest in the 6-3, 195-pound Patterson.
     Patterson, a four-star recruit, got his scholarship offer from Kentucky midway of his freshman season — the first Division I offer he received.
     “He is big and runs well,” Corbin coach Tom Greer said. “He has great hands. Most schools are recruiting him as a flexed out, tight end type of player. He’s a little bit light for that now.”
     Kentucky recruiting coordinator envisions Patterson at 240 pounds in college.
     “They think he can put on weight and keep his speed,” Greer said. “Ohio State and several others are looking at him as a tight end.”

     Greer thinks Patterson could play several positions in college, another reason he’s such an attractive recruit. He has run the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds.
     “I believe he could play outside linebacker or bulk up and play inside linebacker,” Greer said. “Dakota can play wherever you want him to or need him to. He’s not just a wide receiver. He’ll do whatever you want him to do so he can play. He’s that competitive.
     Patterson also plays basketball and runs tracks.
     When he was 6 years old, he came to Rupp Arena in 2010 for ESPN GameDay wearing a No. 11 UK basketball jersey and a sign where he called himself “Lil John Wall.” He also used to pretend he was UK receiver Randall Cobb, who is still playing for the Green Bay Packers.
     Patterson’s Corbin teammate, Treyveon Longmire, is already verbally committed to UK and part of the 2022 recruiting class.

     Junior Emma King of Lincoln County has played limited minutes in 20 games during her first two seasons at Kentucky but coach Kyra Elzy says that might change, especially after the season-ending injury to Blair Green.
     “She is playing with confidence. One of the things we talked about all summer is you are a shooter and you have to be able to put the ball in the basket even under pressure with the defense running out on you,” Elzy said.
     She had over 2,500 points in high school along with 750 rebounds. She averaged 18.5 points per game her senior year when she hit almost 40 percent from 3-point range.
     “She is so much more confident this year,” Elzy said. “Defensively she also understands positioning and is making hustle plays.”
     King said UK worked a lot during the summer on posting guards inside to score because most of the guards have more size than her.
     “Probably not me (posting up). I am just in the group that is getting help. I told them one time please don’t ever give me the ball in the paint if I am posting up. Just act like you don’t see me,” King laughed and said.
     Elzy confirmed it was her position group working on posting up and that King just took part in the work. However, the coach’s vision for King is to sprint the floor, get open and hit 3-point shots in transition or be a zone-buster and shoot about 40 percent from 3-point range.
     “For the rest of the wings, that is our package (posting up),” Elzy said. “We just want to do a better job taking advantage of our size and posting up our other guards.”
     King had five points, three assists, one steal and three turnovers in 27 minutes in UK’s exhibition game last week. She was 1-for-3 from the field but Elzy was happy with her play.
     “I think she has bought into her role. She fits the type of player that I’m looking for: heart, hustle, intensity, and is very competitive. She buys into her role and is a big piece of what we do,” the UK coach said.

     After making official visits to Alabama and Michigan State, five-star offensive lineman Kiyaunta Goodwin of Charlestown, Indiana, had to call off his official visit to UK last weekend. However, the UK commit was still on campus when the Cats played Tennessee. He just had a family event that kept him from being able to stay all weekend, so he saved the official visit for later.
     He already has visits set to Ohio State on Nov. 20 and Michigan on Nov. 27.
     Goodwin has been at every UK home game this year, including the wins over Florida and LSU that vaulted the Cats into the national rankings.
     Goodwin did admit he was impressed by Michigan State and coach Mel Tucker on his visit when the Spartans beat Michigan 37-33. It was Goodwin’s first visit to Michigan State and first face-to-face meeting with Tucker.

  Quotes of the Week

Quote of the Week 1:

     “I didn’t know how big the rivalry was until I got here. It's pretty epic. I’ve only been here since May, and I really don't like them. It’s fun to be a part of a rivalry like that. They got us this year, but I'm looking forward to going down there next year and getting them back,” UK quarterback Will Levis after the 45-42 loss to the Vols.

Quote of the Week 2:

     “This is a special place. Not just for me, but my entire family. My family considers this home. We created some incredible memories here. I am just a spoke in one of the wheels but I am glad to be part of a great team again,” Kentucky assistant coach Orlando Antigua on being back on John Calipari’s staff.

Quote of the Week 3:

     “I didn’t think I would ever say this but at her age she is the best prospect I have seen in the state of Kentucky. I never thought I would see an eighth-grader better than Makayla Epps but it’s close. She is just different and a wonderful girl,” Anderson County basketball coach Clay Birdwhistell on Sacred Heart freshman ZaKiyah Johnson.