Just over a week after his arrest on multiple charges in Texas, Johntay Cook has once again encountered legal issues. Arrest records from Grayson County, Texas, indicate that the former Texas and Washington wide receiver has been taken into custody for possessing less than two ounces of marijuana.
This development follows Cook’s booking into the Lon Evans Corrections Center in Fort Worth on February 4, as recorded in inmate logs from Tarrant County, Texas. The charges against him included two misdemeanor theft offenses and interfering with public duties.
It’s certainly troubling news for the wide receiver, after Cook spent the past two seasons at Texas. He appeared in 19 games in Austin where he posted 16 receptions for 273 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Longhorns. That includes eight catches, including his two lone scores, for 137 this past fall as a sophomore.
Cook, a former five-star prospect from DeSoto, Texas, appeared poised for success in Austin. In the 2023 recruiting cycle, he ranked No. 31 overall according to the On3 Industry Ranking, which combines evaluations from all four major recruiting media outlets. He was also rated as the No. 3 wide receiver in his class and the No. 5 player in Texas.
At the time, he was the Longhorns’ fourth highest-rated signee in that No. 3 class in ’23 behind only QB Arch Manning, LB Anthony Hill, and RB CJ Baxter Jr.. They seemed poised to lead Texas to greatness for many seasons to come.
Ranked as the No. 26 wide receiver and No. 120 overall player in On3’s 2025 Top Transfer Portal rankings, Cook committed to Washington nearly three weeks later. However, just over two weeks after his commitment, he and the program parted ways.
Since then, there have been no updates on his status over the past two weeks, as spring practice approaches in the coming months. With two arrests since the start of February, it remains to be seen whether any programs will show interest in him ahead of the 2025 season.
