Wingo’s struggles to track the football impacted him last season and enough in offseason workouts to discover the need for a corrective procedure.
Add another new layer to the narrative of the Texas Longhorns wide receiver position in 2024 — as starters Isaiah Bond, Matthew Golden, and DeAndre Moore Jr. all battled injuries late in the season, freshman wide receiver Ryan Wingo was dealing with his own issues beyond a freak injury sustained during pregame warmups when he collided with a staffer for the Vanderbilt Commodores.
On Friday, Anwar Richardson of Orangebloods reported that Wingo underwent LASIK surgery to correct poor vision that impacted his ability to track the football last season and into offseason workouts.
According to my sources, Texas WR Ryan Wingo recently had LASIK surgery after the staff discovered he was struggling with very poor vision after struggling in workouts. Apparently, he dealt with it last season. However, he’ll clearly see those dimes from Arch Manning this season. pic.twitter.com/vTMXTepyZG
— Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) March 14, 2025
Horns247 later confirmed the news.
The 6’2, 210-pounder was one of the most important recruits in the 2024 cycle for Texas as wide receivers coach Chris Jackson was able to secure a commitment and signature from the St. Louis product over Georgia, Michigan, and Missouri despite a late-cycle push from the home-state Tigers.
Ranked as a consensus four-star prospect, Wingo was the No. 39 player nationally and the No. 8 wide receiver, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, but was a five-star prospect by 247Sports and ranked more highly throughout most of the recruiting cycle.
With a rare combination of size and 10.55 100-meter speed, Wingo made a quick impression with four catches for 70 yards in his debut against Colorado State before ripping off a 55-yard run against Michigan in Ann Arbor that nearly went for a touchdown.
Ryan Wingo was doing this before he could even see, that’s crazy pic.twitter.com/hXf6IafVO6
— SleeperCFB (@SleeperCFB) March 14, 2025
Wingo did score his first touchdown the following week against UTSA on a 75-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Arch Manning, totaling three catches for 127 yards on the day.
But after scoring another touchdown against Louisiana-Monroe, Wingo saw his production decline for the remainder of the season, failing to reach the end zone again and never recording more than 50 receiving yards in a game, finishing the year with 29 catches for 472 yards and two touchdowns, along with five carries for 100 yards.
Wingo also dropped four passes, evidence of his vision issues.
With the departures of Bond, Golden, and Silas Bolden, the Texas coaching staff provided some indication of its confidence level in Moore, Wingo, and the rest of Jackson’s position room by declining to pursue any wide receivers from the NCAA transfer portal during the winter window beyond Eric Singleton, who landed at Auburn.
So that sets up an important spring for Wingo, who now has the vision to maximize his prodigious physical talent.