Mohammed “Mo” Cookbey, who spent the past four years as an assistant coach at Kenwood Academy, was named head coach of the boys basketball program this fall after Joe Mason departed following a 31-2 season and the team’s first-ever city championship.
His promotion marks the third coaching change in as many years for a program still recovering from the departure of Mike Irvin, who resigned in November 2024 amid a Chicago Public Schools Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation into enrollment fraud among Kenwood athletes.
“I don’t think it’s too big of a role for me,” Cookbey said in an interview with the Herald. “I’ve been at some highs and peaks at other different levels outside of the Chicago Public League.”
Cookbey, who played collegiately at Rock Valley Junior College, brings extensive AAU coaching experience to the role. He was the head coach of a Mac Irvin Fire team — a club team founded by Mike Irvin’s father — that won a national AAU championship two years ago. This past summer, he coached star players like Kankakee’s Lincoln Williams, Curie’s Justin Oliver and Hope’s TyJuan Hunter at the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Peach Jam.
“I coached against Cooper Flagg. I coached against Cameron and Cayden Boozer,” Cookbey said, name-dropping the now-NBA-bound number one pick of the 2025 draft and two possible picks in the 2026 draft.
The 20-something coach, who also teaches special education at Kenwood, said his approach to player development extends beyond the basketball court.
“It’s important for me to be able to develop not just the player, but the entire person,” Cookbey said. “I’m huge academically because I think what you are in the classroom, you also are on the court.”
Cookbey cited several mentors who have shaped his coaching philosophy, including Nick Irvin from his years at Morgan Park High School, former Simeon coach Rob Smith, and Nick’s older brother, Lance Irvin, who has coached 14 years of collegiate basketball. Cookbey tends to quiz them on situational questions: “What did you find yourself doing when you came up against this?”
“They always tell me to trust my gut,” he said.
The challenge for Cookbey will be replacing last year’s formidable roster. Kenwood lost superstar sophomore guard Devin Cleveland, who transferred to La Lumiere, a prep school in Indiana, along with graduates Amari Edwards, Aleks Alston and T.J. Seals, who were all key contributors to last season’s championship run. (Cleveland is the 33rd ranked basketball recruit in the 2027 high school recruiting class, according to 247 Sports.)
But Cookbey expressed confidence in his returning roster, which includes six players from last year’s Chicago Public League championship team.
“There’s still a ton of talent in the building,” he said. “Damari Stephens is one of the most skilled scorers in the state, regardless of class.”
Cookbey said Stephens’ jump shot improved significantly over the spring and summer. He noted that NBA star Chris Paul attended one of his AAU games and told Stephens he has professional potential if he continues developing physically.
Cookbey also praised junior point guard Osiris Bell, who has grown to 6-foot-2, calling him “in my mind, the best point guard in the junior class in the Chicago Public League.”
Senior forwards Prince McCord and Jameer Aguda will also take on larger roles, he said.
The offense, Cookbey said, will look different without last year’s stars but will maintain the up-tempo style Kenwood fans have come to expect.
“It definitely will be more by committee,” he said. “But it’ll be the same high-powered, exciting offense that Kenwood has displayed since Mike Irvin took over the program.”
Defensively, Cookbey said his approach will be game-specific rather than relying on a single scheme, such as zone defense or a full-court press.
“Every game that we come out, we’ll play hard, we’ll play physical, we’ll play fast,” he said. “We’re going to dictate the pace that we want to play it.”
When asked about his biggest challenge this season, Cookbey pointed inward.
“Our biggest rival, our biggest challenge, is Kenwood,” he said. “How quick will we be able to gel as a team? How quick will the kids be able to pick up the terminology? How physical will we be able to play on the defensive end and on the boards?”
Larry Avery, Kenwood’s new athletic director who also started this fall, praised Cookbey’s character and approach.
“I think Mo is a phenomenal guy,” Avery said. “Great character in the building. Real straight shooter, really good with the kids. He holds the kids accountable, not only on the court but off the court.”
The program’s recent success has come against the backdrop of the enrollment fraud scandal that led to Mike Irvin’s resignation. An OIG report released in January found that at least 17 players on Kenwood’s varsity boys basketball team over four seasons were fraudulently enrolled, many of them players from the Mac Irvin Fire AAU program. Irvin and three assistant coaches were placed on CPS’ do-not-hire list.
Joe Mason, the school’s assistant principal, took over the team in the wake of Mike Irvin’s abrupt preseason departure. Despite it being his debut as head coach, Mason led the team to a near-perfect regular season record and won a city championship before losing a heartbreaking super-sectional match in overtime to Rich Township in the state championship tournament. For his efforts, Mason won the city’s Coach of the Year award.
Avery said the school has implemented preventive measures since the investigation.
“We do our due diligence to make sure that all athletes, when they do come enrolled — and that’s not only athletes, but all Kenwood students — we make sure they go through a home visit process and they go through proper protocols,” he said.
Kenwood opens its season December 4 at Washington Park’s Dyett High School, which also saw its head coach depart after a championship season, followed by the Chicago Elite Classic on December 6. Tryouts, which are open to all Kenwood students, begin November 10, with practices starting the following day.
Cookbey said his ambition for the season remains as lofty as his predecessors’.
“The goal is to win conference, city and state,” he said. “That doesn’t change for me.”
