Isaiah Cozart is possibly the best defender in the country that is not on a Power 6 team. He has the ability to play much larger than his 6’7” size due to reaching full extension before the ball reaches its maximum apex and his freakish wingspan. Not a one trick pony, he also stays down on pump fakes well and avoids “arm down” fouls likely due to having elite level reaction time. It’s obvious that this A.W. Hamilton offensive scheme is a bit different than his teams of the past and is centered around Cozart in the post. Isaiah primarily plays the 5 position but will be forced to change over to the 4 at the next level as he is going to lack the vertical assets needed to be as effective as he is on the college level. EKU is 4th in Division 1 averaging 6.2 blocks per game in large thanks to the big fella. Cozart is quick enough laterally as well as vertically to recover when beaten off of the dribble to effect the shot.
#50 Isaiah Cozart
Height: 6’7”
Weight: 240 lbs
2023-24 Stats:
⁃ 21 Games Played
⁃ Averages 30.7 minutes
⁃ FG 62.7% // 3 PT 0%
⁃ Averages 9.7 Rebouds per game (4.1 Offensive, 5.6 Defensive)
⁃ 15 Point average
Notes:
⁃ 52% FT Shooter
⁃ Left Handed Shot
⁃ Averages 3.9 Blocks Per Game
⁃ Holds only Triple Double in EKU Program History (Nov. 28, 2023 vs Troy)
⁃ Career Blocks Leader at EKU (179)
Pros:
⁃ Elite Shot Blocker
⁃ 7’2” Wing Span
⁃ High Defensive IQ
⁃ Rebounds both ends
⁃ Post Game
⁃ Finishes with both hands well
Cons:
⁃ Height
⁃ Perimeter Shooting
⁃ Puts feet in restrictive arc on defense frequently, likely trying to get advantage for blocked shot.
MilkCrate was locally focused at the 3rd Annual Ed Stepp Classic in Versailles, Kentucky hosted by Woodford County High School. This event honors the late Ed Stepp, a Yellow Jacket Athletic Legend. The venue, which is dubbed as “The Hive”, is an older gymnasium that has seen note worthy success in recent years under Head Coach Jaron Brown’s tutelage. I arrived to the event early and saw Coach Brown doing mundane tasks around the gym to ensure the event at hand went off smoothly. A blue collar attitude that he hopes his team carries onto the court tonight as they will face the Adair County Indians in the headliner. The smell of freshly popped kettle corn fills the gymnasium as the crowd was sure to witness top quality entertainment on the center stage of the hardwood.
Before things get tipped in the headliner, we have the Defenders of Lexington’s Bryan Station High School facing the duPont Manual Crimson from Louisville. 859 vs 502 always guarantees to be a fiercely contested game and this proved to be no different. These teams both were looking to play fast early as they traded baskets to start and put the ball in the basket a multitude of different ways screaming to a hault, the score was 16-15 duPont with 1:55 remaining as the Crimson Head Coach Miquel Coleman called for time to get his team some oxygen. This Bryan Station team is deep and is led by a “next man up” mentality. Meaning that if you don’t do your job, someone can come off of the bench and do it just as well if not better. This causes issues for many teams because they can play at a high rate of speed that they can meticulously pick teams apart with fresh lungs. We ended the opening quarter with the Crimson narrowly leading the Defenders 21-19. Bryan Station got scoring started in the 2nd quarter off of a corner triple from Junior, Montae Ashford. Classmate, Felix De Los Santos Gonzalez, a 6’7” forward got involved beyond the arc nailing one from the top of the key to match a similar shot on the other end from duPont’s Justice Decker. Decker, whom is already filled in to his 6’5 body, looks to lead duPont to its 4th consecutive district title out of the 25th in Region 7. We remained locked in a battle as the gym started to fill, going into half with a score of 35-34 with duPont on top. Station Coach Champ Ligon Jr went into halftime looking to settle his team down and get more into the flow of the game on the offensive end. The second half started with a Manual run widening the gap to 8 forcing a Station timeout a bit over 3 minutes into the 3rd. Decker proved to be a difficult matchup for the Defenders. Decker, a 6”5” combo player, currently holds an offer from A.W Hamilton and Eastern Kentucky University. He has shown capability to step outside and penalize defenders for sagging off, getting buckets that opposing teams seem to feel comfortable giving him. The Defenders showed fight, but needed to focus on their namesake and eliminate the shots from three. Weak closeouts were the story of the game for them, as they did put up a respectable 59 points but ultimately fell in a tough one in which they never quit fighting to the Crimson 76-59.
For the main event of the evening we have freshly minted 2,000 point scorer Connor Loy and 6’7” Isaiah Cochran’s Adair County Indians paired against the Woodford County Yellow Jackets. The Yellow Jackets, led by Ball State football commit Layton Starks also carry explosive freshman point guard Omari Jointer, fresh off of a 26 point performance in the “Devils Den” at Henry Clay on Thursday night. The Indians are a serious contender to be the 5th Region representative at the Sweet 16 in March. Woodford is in the middle of a wide open race in the 8th Region, but has as good of a chance as anyone to come out on top with the regional hardware. Cochran has proven to be the missing piece for the kids from Columbia, transferring from Collins last year, he has been a force for teams to handle on both ends of the ball. (Currently holding offers from McNeese, Bryant, Tennessee Tech, and EKU) he will be one of the top prospects in the Commonwealth next season. A surprising number of fans were had found their way through the doors, evenly split for both sides. We were off to the races in the shadows of the Keeneland Race Course. Woodford got scoring started with a deep triple from Santonio Waite, a Woodford County junior, but was answered quickly by Adair’s Cochran with a three of his own. Connor Loy of Adair County looked to score in transition as he drove through the lane for a lightly contested layup giving the Indians a quick 5 points. That layup must’ve got his competitive juices flowing as he was good for a baseline jumper that floated high through the Versailles sky to bring his total to 4 points with 4:41 remaining in the first quarter. Loy plays with a high basketball IQ, moving well off of the ball. That point was proven when he cut to the basket on a give and go from Cochran to give the Indians an 11-6 lead forcing Woodford Head Coach Brown to take a timeout in a plea to his team to settle into their game plan. Woodford came out of that timeout with a missed shot that Adair’s Brayden Coomer made him pay for has he stroked it for 3 on the offensive end. Juante Jenkins, a prolific scorer for Woodford County, got on the board with 1:42 to play as he was nothing but net on a triple of his own. 15-9 Indians with 1:21 remaining. Cochran wasn’t finished as he drained one from just inside center court with seconds remaining to round out the first quarter. The score sat at 18-11 with Adair County holding a narrow 6 point lead. “Confident” Cochran opened up scoring in the 2nd Quarter with a Kobe Bryant style mid range fadeaway that is going to be difficult to defend on any level. HE CAME TO PLAY TONIGHT FOLKS, he just nailed another one as I was writing the last sentence. Adair leads 23-17 with 5:11 remaining in the half. Connor Loy was looking to dish on the offensive end, cooking up a pass to get bruiser Brayton Coomer involved to widen the Adair lead to 10 with 1:34 remaining before both teams headed to the locker room. Woodford County was able to answer with a quick triple on the their end, but the Indians remained composed and answered with 2 of their own. We entered half time with the Indians ahead by 8 as the Woodford County DJ provided our ears with some silky beats for our entertainment.
Halftime Notables:
Connor Loy (Adair)- 6 points
Isaiah Cochran (Adair)- 15 points
Juante Jenkins (Woodford)- 9 points
We began the Second half with the possession arrow favoring the Indians. Connor Loy got his jumper going again as he was good on a left corner three. Heating up, he hit another from the right elbow bringing his game total to 12 points. Loy ripped a rebound down on the defensive end and was fouled hard as he looked to capitalize in transition. Jointer, looking to get involved, cut through the lane aggressively with 5:18 left in the 3rd quarter but was met but Coomer waiting for the charging foul which was promptly called. Jointer, banged up on the play, had to exit the game..leading to a passionate protest from the Woodford faithful directed at the stripes who followed up in giving the Jackets a bench warning. Loy looked to take advantage of Jointer’s exit and attempted a drive of his own where he forced contact but was unable to convert the basket or either freebie on his trip to the line, Adair still holds the lead 40-25 as 2:45 remained before we headed to the deciding quarter. Woodford, committed a bad foul after a made free throw around 80 feet from the basket on Loy to send him to the line where he converted the double bonus to give Adair a commanding 46-29 lead with 1:12 remaining in the 3rd. Woodford’s Phillip Brown was good for 6 points in this quarter and gave Woodford a much needed 3 to close the gap to 12 for the Jackets. However, the Jackets fouled almost immediately on the floor and sent Adair back to the line where they were 100% on the Double Bonus yet again. Woodford’s Brown, looking for anything to get the Jackets going, drew contact on Adair’s Coomer and hit both from the stripe, he now had 8 points in free throws that ended the quarter. The stands started to clear a bit as the Kentucky Wildcats tipped off against the Tennessee Volunteers as 4th quarter of this game started, people wanted to get in front of their TV’s to watch the Cats. Brown was in the zone, as immediately filled the rim for ANOTHER 3 mere seconds into the final quarter to narrow the Adair lead to 9 at 48-39. Cochran got back involved with a nice post spin move on the roped pass from Connor Loy to show that these Indians aren’t going to let a few Yellow Jacket stings ruin their trip down the Bluegrass Parkway. Layton Starks, rocked the rim in transition on the offensive end, but immediately picked up a foul which was capitalized on for a Coomer left handed floater from Adair. The momentum felt heavily in favor of the Indians. Jointer entered back into the game with a slight limp from his earlier contact, replacing the red hot Patrick Brown. Woodford called a timeout with 4:15 remaining to try to set up the improbable 15 point comeback. Starks came out of the timeout with a beautiful opposite hand finish on the right side, I will continue to stand on the hill that he is a D1 basketball player at some level. Juante Jenkins answered back to narrow the Adair lead to 10 with 1:39 left in the game. Woodford was good for another quick bucket but the confident one, Isaiah Cochran nailed a mid range jump shot to answer on the other end. Juante Jenkins stepped up in the moment, deciding it was his time to be the bucket that he is and nailed a clutch 3 pointer to bring Woodford within 7 points and having hope with 70 ticks remaining. After a missed walk call on the Indians, Coomer played through contact to convert all 3 points of an And-1 to bring the Indians lead back to 10 points with a minute remaining in the game. The Jackets fought back hard but ultimately ran out of time in the end. This one belongs to the Adair County Indians 67-55, as they look to carry this momentum into their District Tournament. Solid win for the Tribe.
Notable Game Performances:
Connor Loy (Adair) – 20 points
Brayton Coomer (Adair)- 18 Points
Isaiah Cochran (Adair)- 21 Points
Juante Jenkins (Woodford)- 17 Points
Patrick Brown (Woodford)- 14 Points
Omari Jointer (Woodford)- 3 Points ** Injured in Game
Just off Exit 184 on Interstate 75 North short of Cincinnati, MilkCrate found itself at Lloyd Memorial High School on Friday Night to watch Independant newcomer Web Dubois Academy take on the Juggernauts. Lloyd Memorial High School playing host to the game, features former Hoop Dreams Club Star EJ Walker (pictured below in warmups) whom is being sought by high major programs such as Indiana, WKU, and lllinois. I spoke with Walker after the game in which he said that Illinois had just offered. Web Dubois Academy features star freshmen Ja’Rye Brown and 6’7” Ferlandos Wright fresh off of an unofficial visit to Western Kentucky University. Web Dubois head coach James Alexander also serves as the Club Program Director at Hoop Dreams in Lexington. This Web Dubois team may be young in age, but is seasoned on the hardwood through countless hours of training and AAU experience on various circuits.
Web Dubois controlled the tip but failed to convert on an easy layup from the right side, quickly grabbed by Walker of the Juggernauts who was looking to dish early as he passed on the first two possessions, leading to contact on the second try. This shows an aptitude of a good teammate/leadership and willingness to get others involved. His teammates were feeling it as Elijah Collins sunk a three off of a missed free throw. Web Dubois’ Ferlandos Wright had a floor burner for a loose ball to make up for a missed bunny he felt he should have had on the other end. Floor burning, is an intangible, you either do it or you don’t. It is becoming more rare to see in the high school game but he did not hesitate in the slightest. Ja’Rye Brown representing Web Dubois nailed a three that would’ve been good in the NBA with 4:46 remaining, showcasing his deep range, to give them a three point advantage. Not to be outdone, Wright showed he has a perimeter game as well, nailing one from the land of threes to bring the lead 9-4 Web. Lloyd Memorial’s Elijah Powers had the power on the other end, nailing a deep triple from the top of the key to give the Jugs a three point advantage with 2:17 remaining. Powered up, Powers took it strong at the baseline to add another three the old fashioned way, widening the gap to six. Walker took to the post converting a toughly guarded post shot by Web’s Wright. It is intriguing to see that Wright is already playing with such high basketball IQ in the post, with room to grow that is where he will be best suited on the next level. Web Dubois’ Brown converted an impressive euro step to the south paw finish responding to a Lloyd Memorial run. We were 21-11 at the end of the first with Lloyd Memorial on top.
The second quarter started with Walker scoring on an impressive euro step in transition finishing on the left side. Walker, who said he still feels like he is growing, handles his size well. Web Dubois’ Brandon Heath answered immediately with an impressive left handed cross lane floater. These teams, playing up and down basketball, are both threats to have offensive explosions. Walker exploded out of a time out for a thundering dunk to give his Juggurnauts a 30-13 lead with 5:27 remaining. Web Dubois looked to get going in transition by turning it up on the defensive end. Lloyd’s Walker was up to task, meeting offenders for great contested shots inside the paint. Ogletree from Web Dubois took his defender off of the bounce forcing tough contact at the rim. When he develops, that will be an easy dunk. Nonetheless, he was able to showcase his hard work in the gym by sinking both from the charity stripe. This Web Dubois team may be outmatched physically in this game, but if they remain together, in which Coach Alexander assured me that they will post game….Rupp might need to look out for this young squad very soon. We went into half with the score 38-23, Jugs leading.
Web Dubois stormed out of half time cutting the deficit to 12 off of a made layup from Ogletree. Web’s big fella Wright showed confidence from deep nailing another triple to cut the lead to eight. Game on.
EJ Walker, playing for his father as his Coach, helped spread the Juggernaut lead back to 18 with 2:17 remaining in the game. Coaches kids do not grow on trees, and they always seem to play with a high IQ. Walker might be underrated in the 2025 Class. It will be interesting to see him on the AAU circuit this summer.
The story here from a scouting perspective is in Web Dubois. This team, playing mostly freshman, is competing against teams with Rupp Arena aspirations. This is their first year as a program. They are far mature beyond their years, and you can tell that they are accustomed to playing older (and larger) competition. Currently, the size and physicality of Lloyd Memorial ultimately proved too difficult. Exhausting a fatigued Dubois team that played hard until the final buzzer. Dropping this contest 76-52 to the Juggernauts.
MilkCrate Hoops stayed local Thursday night, heading over to Henry Clay High School to watch the Blue Devils take on Woodford County. Woodford County, is still playing at a high level in Region 8, even though they lost their best player in Junior Guard, Jasper Johnson. Johnson transferred to national powerhouse Link Academy in Branson, MO and is currently being sought after by essentially every program in the country. Woodford is an explosive team and can provide opponents with a challenge defensively due to their elite athleticism.
The game is being contested at Henry Clay High School near the Chevy Chase neighborhood in Lexington. The Al Prewitt Gymnasium has seen Mr. Basketball grace its walls in 1984’s Steve Miller, and local Lexington legend James Lee who was an All-American during his tenure with the Blue Devils, but may be remembered more famously in this city for the thundering dunk that locked down the 1978 title for his Kentucky Wildcats. The Blue Devils have brought home KHSAA titles a record-tying 6 times, most recently in 1983 and only matched by fellow Lexington public school Lafayette. There is history in every gym, sometimes you just have to look and ask, but I’m a junkie for that type of thing.
I’m only reporting the varsity tilt tonight. Henry Clay has surprised me a bit this year, they entered the contest with only 3 losses on the season. This is a Henry Clay squad that went 16-15 last year, so the talent that they have certainly must be developing well.
Once things finally tipped we were off to the races. Layton Starks (a Ball State football commit) scored 2 quick buckets and a rim rocker giving the Jackets a 6-2 lead. Starks, who wears #4, could be valuable for a low-major D1 basketball program. He might even be good enough to pull double duty for the Cardinals next year in the MAC. He has good leaping ability and provides a formidable presence physically helping him rebound the ball on each end of the floor. What he lacks for in shooting from the perimeter, he makes up for by finishing well through contact. Starks exited the game for a short breather with a little under 3 left in the quarter. He made good on the oxygen as he came back into the game and made a quick transition layup to stretch the Woodford County lead 21-6 forcing a Henry Clay timeout with 2:14 remaining in the first. Henry Clay came out swinging in the 2nd quarter, showing resilience as they cut the lead to 5 with 3:45 remaining, 27-22. Things got a bit chippy as seemingly every player from both teams hit the deck for a loose ball in front of the Henry Clay student section, leading to a jump ball and some pushing with 3:14 before both teams took it to the locker room. Henry Clay’s Isaiah Stephan must have taken it personal, as he nailed a dagger a few seconds later on the other end pulling the Devils within 2. We went into the half off of a Woodford basket from Jaunte Jenkins with 10 seconds remaining to make it 30-26 Jackets. Henry Clay fought back hard after they began limiting careless turnovers and converting baskets on the offensive end. The second half started with Woodford settling down on defense and switching every screen to force the Blue Devils to make a play off of the bounce. Henry Clay’s Kayson Brown cut to the basket and laid it in off of the right glass from a baseline drive where he finished a tough left handed floater. Brown remained hot completing the Blue Devil comeback and giving them a 1 point lead on 8 points coming consecutively from the field with 2:33 remaining in the quarter. Henry Clay’s Hassan Bush caught a body with 29.2 remaining, rocking the rim with a spectacular slam over a Woodford defender sending the gym into a frenzy on an and-1, forcing a Woodford timeout to recompose. My goodness, what a dunk. “Not so fast” said Woodford County coming out of the time out. They nailed a triple at the buzzer that was good for them to hold the lead 42-40 entering the deciding quarter. Henry Clay’s Bush was feeling it, scoring quickly to tie it up in the 4th which was answered no more than 5 seconds later by a Woodford County made 3 from Makhi Smith. Henry Clay called a timeout on the next possession resulting in a turnover and made basket from Woodford’s Jenkins, widening the gap to 5 with 6:28 remaining. Woodford looked to play stall ball with 5 minutes left. Henry Clay fouled Starks who went 1/2 from the charity stripe to give Woodford the 7 point advantage. Bush aggravated his left ankle in transition on the other end, having to leave the game for medical treatment. Jackson Stephan was good for a triple on the other end cutting the Woodford lead to 4 with 3:02 remaining. Woodford took advantage of the rim protector’s absence and Juante Jenkins converted a successful 3 point play the old fashioned way playing through some brutal contact at the rim. Bush must not have been too bothered by the ankle as he entered back and nailed a clutch 3 to make out 58-52 Jackets with 1:59 remaining in the contest. Henry Clay’s Brown stepped to the line for an important set of free throws on which he was able to convert both to keep Henry Clay’s dreams alive down by 4 with 1:36 to go. Brown was able to steal a weak Woodford pass with :48 on the clock and score an easy transition layup to cut the Woodford advantage to 2. Brown made an impressive (and much needed) steal on the Devil’s press but made an errant 60 foot cross court pass to immediately turn the ball back over to the Yellow Jackets. The foul and pray game failed for Henry Clay as they drop this one at home 64-58. Woodford County wins. You can feel the madness in the air as we inch closer to March. What a game
The Coach Ryan Report 