Inside The Huskies

Huskies Add Another Receiver in Texas Tech transfer Ja'Lynn Polk

The Texan will be the second from the little town of Lufkin to join the UW roster.
Dan Raley|
Huskies Add Another Receiver in Texas Tech transfer Ja'Lynn Polk
Huskies Add Another Receiver in Texas Tech transfer Ja'Lynn Polk

The town of Lufkin, Texas, is a true Friday Night Lights destination, with its nameplate showing up on a state playoff bracket displayed in the film. 

Lufkin is 115 miles north of Houston and has 35,000 residents. 

Two of them now have spots on the University of Washington football roster.

On Wednesday, wide receiver Ja'Lynn Polk, coming off his freshman year at Texas Tech, announced he will play for the Huskies, bringing a proven big-play pass-catcher to Jimmy Lake's program and joining former Lufkin High teammate and incoming freshman tailback Caleb Berry, soon to arrive.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Polk, who chose the UW over Houston and Kentucky, will have four seasons to play five because of pandemic allowances. At Tech, he had 28 catches for 264-yards and two scores. His decision came on the winter recruiting deadline.

Polk also is the second transfer to cast his lot to the Huskies for next season, coming on the heels of Colorado State quarterback Patrick O'Brien, who began his career at Nebraska.

The Texas newcomer, according to Pro Football Focus stats, didn't drop any passes this past season, which was a problem for some of his new teammates.

Polk publicly gave no reason for leaving Texas Tech, but the Red Raiders weren't very good this past season, finishing 4-6. They gave up 63 points to Texas and 50 to Oklahoma State. He no doubt was looking for a more competitive situation.

He joins a UW team that returns two regular starters in junior Puka Nacua and senior Terrell Bynum, and two single-game starters in Jalen McMillan and Rome Odunze, who were true freshman fill-ins when COVID-19 sidelined the others. 

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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