Former Texas, Washington WR Johntay Cook arrested on marijuana possession charges

A little over a week after being arrested on multiple charges in the state of Texas, Johntay Cook has run into trouble with the law again. According to arrest records in Grayson County, Texas, the former Texas and Washington wide receiver has been booked for marijuana possession of less than two ounces.

The news comes following law enforcement booking Cook into the Lon Evans Corrections Center in Fort Worth on Feb. 4, according to inmate logs in Tarrant County, Texas. Those charges against him included a pair of misdemeanors with theft, as well as 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.

He seemed destined for greatness in Austin, after Cook was a former five-star prospect out of DeSoto, Texas. He was the No. 31 overall recruit back in the 2023 cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He also rated as the No. 3 WR in the class and the No. 5 player out of the state.

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.

Following this past regular season, Cook decided to enter his name into the NCAA Transfer Portal as the No. 26 WR and the No. 120 player in On3’s 2025 Top Transfer Portal Players. Nearly three weeks later, he committed to Washington but, just over two weeks after that, he and that program parted ways.

Since then, there haven’t been any new updates on his status over the past two weeks, with spring practice set to begin in the coming few months. With two arrests on his resume since the start of February, it’ll be interesting to see if he receives any interest from a program or not heading into the 2025 season.

— On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this article.