Former Texas WR Jake Smith releases statement, confirms he will transfer

The Longhorns roster will likely be missing their third most productive receiver from the 2020 season, as sophomore and former Gatorade National Player of the Year Jake Smith entered the NCAA transfer portal.

The slot receiver posted his farewell to Texas via Twitter on Friday.

A few Texas players quoted the tweet and wished Smith luck at his next stop, therefore it’s evident his Longhorn career is done.

Smith entered the transfer portal a week ago, which can likely be attributed to the many injuries Smith faced during his time at Texas.

There were very high expectations for Smith, who came out of Arizona as a four-star prospect, but he was unfortunately unable to stay healthy. Smith missed multiple games in both years due to injuries and broke his foot on the very first day of spring football this season. An injury that likely forced him to fall behind players like Jordan Whittington, Troy Omiere and Michigan transfer Xavier Worthy on the depth chart.

There are no crystal ball predictions for Smith, but there is speculation he is heading West. During his high school recruitment, Smith officially visited two schools, one of which was Texas. The other school, which seems to serve as a pipeline for Texas transfers and staff is USC. In recent years, former defensive coordinator Todd Orlando took the job there, former Director of Recruiting Bryan Carrington, wide receiver Bru McCoy (what a whirlwind that was), running back Keontay Ingram, tight end Malcom Epps, and defensive back Xavion Alford have all headed to Southern California.

He also unofficially visited Ohio State and Alabama during his high school recruitment. It is unclear where Smith will go, or when he will announce where he goes, but if he can stay healthy at the next stop they are getting a great weapon.