Cortez Braham Opens Up About WVU Exit, Details Final Conversation with Neal Brown

At this point, it’s widely known that Cortez Braham announcing his intentions to transfer from WVU was simply a formality. The wide receiver has been away from the team since the end of September. Well, Braham is now ready to explain what actually led to his sudden exit.

In an exclusive interview with WV Sports Now, Braham details his final conversation with West Virginia head coach Neal Brown and if he holds any animosity towards anyone involved with the Mountaineers.

On what led to his departure, the wide receiver confirmed what most probably expected – it was about playing time. He at least wanted more of an opportunity to showcase his talents. Braham said he told Brown that he was unhappy with his role and showed his head coach data that argued he wasn’t even getting a chance. He said he pointed out that he was only getting one target in games and that was far less than what he was led to believe would be the case as the lone incumbent among a new group of receivers in 2023.

“Yeah, so what happened was, I felt that Neal Brown wasn’t using me at all. If you look at my stats, I was get one target a game. I just felt like they didn’t need me at all,” said Braham.

He said he didn’t feel his goals of making it to the NFL someday were going to be possible if he stayed in the same situation at WVU. According to Braham, Brown told him that he didn’t see his role changing. That response led to Braham saying he wanted to then take a redshirt for the season. That’s what led to him being off the team from that point on.

WVU WR Cortez Braham during the 2023 season opening game against Penn State – Kelsie LeRose/WVSN

“He decided to tell me that since I’m making this decision, I don’t have access to the facility anymore and I’ve been off the team since then.” Braham did make it clear that if Brown agreed to redshirt him and discuss utilizing him more next season, he would have agreed to stay a Mountaineer.

Unfortunately for the Braham, that did not happen and he says Brown immediately cut off his access to the facility from that day on.

While Braham’s reasoning for wanting to leave and try to find more playing time elsewhere isn’t surprising, he did clear up some confusion about the timeline of events since the news leaked an hour before kickoff of a game. Braham’s status became apparent Saturday evening leading up to West Virginia’s eventual win at TCU. But in reality, Braham says he had been away from the team since Monday morning of that same week, pinpoint his discussion with Brown as before weekly press conferences that afternoon.

After being vocal about feeling more confident in West Virginia’s 2023 group of receivers compared to last year throughout the off-season, the Baltimore, Maryland native was only been able to record three receptions for 17 yards this season. He caught 14 balls for 147 yards in 2022.

WVU WR Cortez Braham warming up before the Backyard Brawl against Pitt – Kelsie LeRose/WVSN

Despite how things went down on his last day as a Mountaineer and feeling as if the coaches did not provide him a legitimate opportunity to have success, Braham holds no ill will towards anyone involved with the program. When asked if he harbors any grudges, he responded by saying, “I’m not that type of person” and then continued by adding “you can ask them yourself, they will tell you.”

Since publicizing his plans to transfer, Cortez Braham has already received a couple offers, granted one is from an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) at the FCS level. He has just one year of eligibility remaining in his college career.