Syracuse Football Close to Landing Former Five-Star WR Johntay Cook After Pena’s Exit
Syracuse football may soon add former Texas wide receiver Johntay Cook to replace Trebor Pena, who recently entered the transfer portal.
Cook, a former five-star recruit, is strongly considering joining the Orange after initially transferring to Washington during the winter portal window before re-entering this spring. He visited Arkansas over the weekend, but Syracuse is currently the favorite to land his services.
The wide receiver caught eight passes in each of his two seasons at Texas.
Syracuse head coach Fran Brown addressed Pena’s departure with candid comments about the current transfer portal landscape.
“You gonna make $2 million at wide receiver? That’s the homie at Ohio State (Jeremiah Smith). Ain’t nobody else making that money. I’m not giving no wide receiver $2 million in college. That ain’t me,” Brown said. “I ain’t doing that unless they tell me we have a chance to have Travis Hunter come back to college. He can come here and play for us, then he gonna get some of my check.”
The transfer portal has become a contentious issue in college sports. While designed to help athletes find better situations, thousands of players enter the portal annually across all sports, with many seeking financial opportunities rather than better team fits.
Despite official open and close windows, players can remain in the portal indefinitely once their paperwork is submitted before the deadline.
For Syracuse, landing Cook would represent a significant addition to their receiving corps. While he hasn’t yet produced at an elite level in college, he brings five-star potential at what will likely be a lower cost than the reported $2 million Pena was seeking.
The addition would mark an early recruiting win for Coach Brown as he builds his program at Syracuse.
