Inside The Huskies

Alexander Exits ASU and Enters Portal; Could He Be UW Bound?

The Seattle-area wide receiver was a favored target for Sam Huard in high school.

Dan Raley

Freshman wide receiver Lonyatta Alexander, one of Sam Huard's top high school passing targets, has left Arizona State and entered the transfer portal, leading to almost automatic speculation that he might return home and play alongside his former 5-star quarterback at Washington.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Alexander, who caught 67 and 71 passes mostly from Huard at Kennedy Catholic High over a pair of non-COVID seasons, appeared in just two games for the Sun Devils this past fall, preserving his redshirt status.

The Huskies clearly are in need of more receivers after having incoming 4-star recruit Germie Bernard bail on his letter of intent and end up at Michigan State, and veterans Terrell Bynum and Sawyer Racanelli transfer to USC and Montana, respectively. 

Coming out of the Seattle-area school, Alexander was a 4-star recruit who held nearly 20 offers, including eight from Pac-12 schools, before settling on Arizona State.

He headed south to the desert for college while Kennedy Catholic receiver Jabez Tinae and Huard signed on with the hometown Huskies. 

Tinae likewise appeared in just two games as a freshman, while Huard played in four, starting the Apple Cup against Washington State.

Ironically, when the Sun Devils and Huskies met in mid-November in Seattle, Huard and Tinea appeared in that game, while Alexander did not. ASU won the outing, 35-30.

As a junior in 2019, Alexander turned in an amazing statistical season for Kennedy Catholic, catching 67 passes for 1,328 yards and a resounding 24 touchdowns in just 12 games.

Alexander became the third receiver to depart from Arizona State's receiving corps since the season ended, joining Johnny Wilson and Geordon Porter in the transfer portal. Alexander also is the 13th Arizona State player to enter the portal since June.

With the return of starting quarterback Jayden Daniels for another season, Arizona State had hoped to see utilize its group of young pass-catchers more.

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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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