Amidst preparing for the Gators on Saturday, Texas has “scaled” down its receiving core. The Longhorns (7-1) have decided to let go of former 5-star WR Johntay Cook II with immediate effect. The Texas native wide receiver, a 2023 recruit from DeSoto High School, exploded onto the scene with impressive high school stats and a state championship title. However, his college career at Texas hasn’t quite lived up to the hype. Now, he’s leaving the program under a cloud of uncertainty. This decision comes as a surprise at this juncture of the season. In the wake of the news breaking, Longhorns’ fan and insider, Geoff Ketchum, shared his knowledge on the matter.

Ketchum, alongside host Anwar Richardson, took to the Orangebloods YouTube channel in the backwash of what went down. “The word that I was given [by a source] was dismissed. A few follow-up text messages that I’ve received over the course of the last couple of minutes sound like this is something that’s been building for a while,” said Ketchum. He reiterated the “dismissed” part of the dialogue.

Ketchum did, however, mention how there were “no bad feelings” between the two parties. The sudden nature of the departure could invite perception of any wrongdoing, but that does not seem to be the case. Albeit there was no foul play of any sort, it’s up in the air whether the reasons for the parting were as reciprocal as Steve Sarkisian led everyone to believe.

Sarkisian said the decision to let Cook go was “mutual between the two of us.” “We have nothing but respect for he (and) his family. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors,” he said. Johntay has had a pedestrian season overall, with a mere 137 yards and 2 TDs. He had zero receptions since the September 28 outing against Mississippi State.

Why didn’t Johntay Cook end up flourishing in Austin?

Longhorns fans naturally began speculation about why a 5-star recruit from the same part of the country failed to reach his potential at the program. Cook was expected to be the starting outside receiver this season. However, the stacked receiving core of Matthew Golden and Isaiah Bond, among others, has seen his opportunities be compromised. Freshman WR Ryan Wingo taking to CFB like a duck to water also didn’t help.

The aforementioned Anwar Richardson also gave insight backed by something he had heard from within the organization. “When you are [a] high profile, when you are a five star, and everybody just been telling you how great you are, you come into a program like Texas [and] your attitude will determine the altitude that you achieve. Everything that I was told was that the attitude that he had just was not flying behind the scenes. [So] then ultimately, there had to be a breaking point.”

In the aftermath of the exit, reports about Johntay Cook’s landing spot are already catching steam. The former 5-star recruit is not short of massive suitors, with the likes of Oregon, Georgia, and Ole Miss already circling around. The latter two aren’t new to tussling over coveted receivers. So wherever he ends up, Cook will seek to find his game again and put the last couple of seasons in the rear-view mirror.