Top On3 national recruiting experts Steve Wiltfong and Pete Nakos, on Sunday, logged predictions for Syracuse football to land a commitment from Washington transfer wide receiver Johntay Cook II, who recently visited the Orange and also took a trip to Arkansas this past week.
Listed at 6-foot and 185 pounds on ESPN's Web site, Cook played for two seasons at Southeastern Conference member Texas. In late December of last year, he transferred to Big Ten Conference school Washington but, according to media reports, was only with the Huskies program for a couple of weeks.
Cook then re-entered the portal during the spring transfer portal window that recently closed. As a freshman in the 2023 term, he caught eight passes for 136 yards. Last year, as a sophomore, Cook hauled in eight catches for 137 yards and two scores through the air.
Per some reports that I came across from mid-February of this year, Cook had been arrested twice in a span of 10 days. Syracuse.com also noted this in a story from about a week ago.
Syracuse football appears to be in strong shape to pick up a transfer wide receiver.
Amid the spring transfer portal window that was open from April 16 until April 25, the Orange staff has hosted several transfer wide receivers on visits to the Hill. They include Cook, Central Arkansas senior Trejan Bridges and Florida State sophomore Hykeem Williams.
Former 'Cuse wide receiver Trebor Pena, an All-ACC performer for the Orange in the 2024 season, recently transferred to fellow Big Ten school Penn State. While Syracuse football, from my perspective, does have some talented wide receivers on its roster for the 2025 campaign, I can understand the 'Cuse staff wanting to add further depth to this position group.
Cook is rated as a three-star transfer prospect by 247Sports and Rivals.com. In national transfer rankings from 247Sports, he's No. 240 overall and No. 43 at wide receiver.
As a standout at DeSoto High School in DeSoto, Texas, Cook in the 2023 prep cycle checked in as five stars, No. 31 nationally, No. 4 at wide receiver and No. 6 in Texas, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.
I'll certainly be on the lookout for whether Cook ultimately decides to transfer to Syracuse football.