{"id":398853,"date":"2026-08-06T01:22:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T01:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/398853\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T01:22:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T01:22:21","slug":"houston-cougars-transfer-wide-receiver-faces-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/398853\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston Cougars Transfer Wide Receiver Faces Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5w\">Houston Cougars football fall camp officially got underway on Wednesday, with exactly one month left until UH officially kicks off the 2026 season on Sept. 5 against Oregon State. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5z\">The Cougars have all the makings of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/houston\/football\/houston-returns-to-the-preseason-coaches-poll-after-a-four-year-absence\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">true Big 12 contender<\/a> this season, and the expectations are real. A number of key star players from last year return, such as senior <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/houston\/football\/houston-quarterback-conner-weigman-named-to-prestigious-preseason-watch-list\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">quarterback Conner Weigman<\/a> and senior <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/houston\/football\/houston-wr-amare-thomas-knows-how-close-the-cougars-are-to-ultimate-success\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">wide receiver Amare Thomas<\/a>. The defense also returns a number of starters, especially in the secondary, led by cornerback Will James. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"62\">Houston&#8217;s offense looks like it could take another step forward with all the experience returning as well as some incoming talent through the transfer portal. Senior running back Makhi Hughes transferred from Oregon, while senior guard Shadre Hurst came from Tulane. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"65\">The Cougars also added depth to the wide receiver room, as Thomas needs a true No. 2 option alongside him. Houston added senior transfer Trent Walker from Oregon State, as well as Tyson Turner from Texas Tech. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"68\">Another big transfer name who committed to the Cougars was incoming sophomore Muizz Tounkara. He initially played for Florida during his true freshman season and decided to make the return home. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6b\">Tounkara looked to be a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/houston\/football\/3-under-the-radar-players-who-could-breakout-for-houston-football\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">name to watch out for<\/a> in the wide receiver room after he made some plays during the spring game, including when he showed off his speed for a great touchdown. Tounkara is now dealing with an injury. <\/p>\n<p>Houston&#8217;s New Wide Receiver Faces an Injury<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/01kza1gdq3v8xkrk4cva.jpg\" alt=\"wide receiver Muizz Tounkara\" title=\"wide receiver Muizz Tounkara\" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"6o\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Florida Gators wide receiver Muizz Tounkara (14) runs during fall football practice at Sanders Indoor Practice Facility at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, August 14, 2025. [Matt Pendleton\/Gainesville Sun] | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6s\"><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Joseph_Duarte\/status\/2085026906714382785?s=20\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">According to Houston<\/a> coach Willie Fritz during his media availability on Wednesday, Tounkara has a left foot injury and is expected to miss about four weeks. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6v\">Tounkara was spotted at Wednesday&#8217;s first fall camp practice on crutches, but that didn&#8217;t hold him back from being an engaged teammate, supporting his team throughout practice. Given that Houston&#8217;s season begins in just over four weeks from now, the question is now whether he&#8217;ll be ready to play at that point. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6y\">Tounkara is a League City native and he went to Clear Springs High School, which is just about 25 miles from TDECU Stadium.  He was a consensus three-star recruit. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"71\">The 6-foot-3, 210-pound wide receiver can be a big weapon on the outside for the Cougars. He also competed in track and field in high school, bringing field-stretching speed to the offense. Tounkara is overall quite athletic and also competed on special teams in high school, where he scored multiple touchdowns as well. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"74\">Tounkara only played in eight games at Florida and has two receptions for 12 yards. It&#8217;s likely he&#8217;ll get more opportunities at Houston, but it will have to be once he&#8217;s healthy. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Houston Cougars football fall camp officially got underway on Wednesday, with exactly one month left until UH officially&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398854,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-398853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}