Skip to main content

Alexander Chooses to Leave Arizona State for UW, Reunite Kennedy Trio

The wide receiver will reunite with high school teammates Sam Huard and Jabez Tinae.
  • Author:
  • Publish date:

You know how college students study abroad for a semester? That's Lonyatta Alexander Jr.

On Saturday morning, the talented wide receiver from Seattle announced he was returning home to play football for the University of Washington after spending a season with the Arizona State Sun Devils.

He's the latest good turn for the Husky wide receiver room after a series disheartening ones that saw a coach go to work for a rival and three players with scholarships turn them in to leave for USC, Montana and Michigan State.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Alexander reunites at the UW with a pair of former Kennedy Catholic High School teammates in quarterback Sam Huard and fellow wide receiver Jabez Tinae, who together set all sorts of passing records.

He initially chose the Sun Devils over Washington, WSU, California, Utah and Minnesota.

At Kennedy Catholic before the pandemic set in, Alexander led the team with 67 and 71 receptions as a junior and sophomore, while the 6-foot, 205-pound Tinae came up with 45 and 59 catches, and Huard finished with more than 13,000 passing yards.

Alexander and Tinae graded out as 4-star recruits, while Huard was that rare 5-star quarterback.

The Huskies also are recruiting Ashton Cozart, who played alongside these guys at Kennedy Catholic as a freshman in 2019 before spending the past two years back in his native Texas.

This past fall, Alexander, Tinae and Huard each made brief college appearances, with the quarterback starting against Washington State in the Apple Cup, before preserving their redshirt seasons and four more years of eligibility.

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Husky Maven stories as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Husky Maven on Facebook by searching: Husky Maven/Sports Illustrated

Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven