Johntay Cook II understands there are 'misconceptions' about him. He's focused on winning the now.

OXFORD – Ole Miss senior wide receiver Johntay Cook II is aware of the preconceived notions people might have of him given his winding road. What he’s most concerned with, however, is what the people in the Manning Center – coaches, teammates, everyone – think of him.

Cook, a DeSoto, Texas native was a five-star recruit in the 2023 recruiting class – 247Sports’ Composite ranked him as the No. 30 player in the entire class – who began his career at Texas . Cook played 20 games for the Longhorns, catching 16 passes for 273 yards and two touchdowns. He left the team in November of 2024 in what was a “mutual decision,” according to ESPN, and entered the transfer portal.

Cook committed to Washington in December 2024 but spent just two or so days on campus, according to On3’s Pete Nakos, before leaving the program. According to WFAA Dallas, Cook was arrested twice in February of 2025 for “theft and interfering with public duties” and for “possession of marijuana of less than two ounces.”

Cook enrolled at Syracuse in the spring of 2025 and enjoyed his best season yet this past year, catching 45 passes for 549 yards and two touchdowns. He transferred to Ole Miss in January, his fourth stop in three college seasons.

Cook is aware there’s a narrative following him.

“I definitely know that there’s misconceptions out there about me,” Cook told reporters Tuesday. “But at the end of the day, all I can do is what I can do in the current time. Whatever impression that the people who are dealing with me at the current time, all I can do is show them my true and authentic self. And whatever they take from that is whatever they take from that.

"It’s not necessarily – you read something about me and you’ve never spoken to me or you’ve never dealt with me – that’s different versus the coaches I’ve been with for three, four months, and I come in every day, whether it’s a good day, bad day or indifferent. I’m the same guy.”

Rebels head coach Pete Golding, who played at Division II Delta State and made his way through the Division II and FCS coaching ranks before landing FBS jobs, is familiar with players who had checkered pasts moving schools. Before the transfer portal made it possible to transfer among Division I schools without having to sit out a season, players previously transferred to lower levels where they could play immediately.

That inside knowledge allows Golding to make informed decisions on players with unconventional paths. The most important thing, he stressed, was the player in question’s love for the game.

“A lot of the times, the reason they were transferring (to) a Division II or 1AA is they didn’t do s**t right where they were at. And some of them, that was multiple, different spots,” Golding said. “But I always feel like, if guys really love football … and they realize, ‘Holy s**t, this is my last shot,’ they’ll change. If they don’t love football, then they won’t, in my opinion, and there’s nothing that you could do – whether you take their money or take football away from them – because it doesn’t matter to get them to change behavior. But over the history of being D2, 1AA and even mid-major, we’ve had a lot of success with guys that have made bad decisions at (another) place, and they’re on their last opportunity to really be able to focus and lock in and try to increase their value because they know it’s their last shot.

“So, I think you have to be really smart, that the kid loves football, has got a high football IQ, that could come in and process it in time, knowing you’re rolling the dice a little bit on some of the flags, obviously, that have occurred at other places. … None of us are perfect. We’ve all made plenty of mistakes, and I’ve made more than most. So, a lot of the times I can relate because I’ve been there and done that probably. And I think that’s the best thing about the SEC, the amount of resources that you have to provide the help and whatever the issues have been. So to me, I’m not worried about it as long as they love football.”