Alexander Says Lack of Junior-to-Junior Connection Sent Him to ASU

The wide receiver felt snubbed by the previous Husky staff.

Of all of the football coaches departing the University of Washington last season, none of them sent players into a panic more than Junior Adams when he left in early January to tutor Oregon's wide receivers.

A day later, Terrell Bynum transferred to USC. 

Two days later, Las Vegas recruit Germie Bernard obtained his scholarship release and later ended up at Michigan State.

Jalen McMillan had to speak with family members first before deciding what to do next. 

Rome Odunze went through the same tap dance.

Everyone seemingly labored over and bemoaned Adams' UW exit except for one guy — Lonyatta Alexander Jr. 

Junior didn't have a connection with Junior. 

Largely because of a perceived UW recruiting snub, Alexander was 1,110 miles away at Arizona State, soon to retrace his steps  

"I felt honestly I wasn't getting recruited hard enough by the previous coach, Junior Adams, so I decided that moving on and making a name for myself would have been better for me," the glib receiver said. "As you saw the circumstances at ASU led me back home."

Well now.

Everyone seems to be more than comfortable with Adams' coaching replacement, JaMarcus Shephard, who came in from Purdue.

McMillan, Odunze and others stayed put in Montlake after Shephard was hired on Jan. 13.

Two days after the new coach was named, Alexander announced he was transferring to the UW, now uncomfortable at ASU with the possibility of alleged recruiting violations catching up with the Sun Devils program. 

Everyone seems to be happy now with the current wide-receiver arrangement in Montlake. The players and Shephard have bonded. Shephard is a big fan of Alexander, too.

"Certainly Junior Alexander I think has taken a pretty big jump and obviously he started at ground zero because he arrived here two days before we started," Shephard said of spring football practice. "Going into fall camp, he's done a pretty good job of establishing himself and as a guy who can contribute to this football team."

Alexander, of course, went on to become one of the standouts in the Huskies' Spring Preview, a condensed and controlled closing scrimmage.

Ironically, his younger brother Xe'ree Alexander, a linebacker at Kennedy Catholic High School, recently committed to Arizona State.

However, Junior Alexander feels wanted by the Huskies, who have a handful of his Kennedy teammates on the roster in quarterback Sam Huard, wide receiver Jabez Tinae and edge rusher Sav'ell Smalls.

"It feels great, it feels comfortable, to be around the guys I grew up and played with my whole life," this Alexander said of the UW. "It's amazing."

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