Former Kennedy Catholic, Arizona State wide receiver commits to UW Huskies

Lonyatta “Junior” Alexander is returning to the Pacific Northwest.

Following his first college season at Arizona State, Alexander, a former four-star wide receiver at Kennedy Catholic High School in Burien, announced Saturday morning on social media he has committed to the Washington Huskies after entering the transfer portal earlier in the week.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound redshirt freshman joins UW’s roster with four seasons of eligibility remaining after appearing in two games for the Sun Devils last fall.

In Seattle, Alexander will reunite with three of his former Kennedy Catholic teammates — including redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Huard and redshirt freshman wide receiver Jabez Tinae, who he spent four high school seasons with on the Lancers’ high-flying offense, and sophomore outside linebacker Sav’ell Smalls.

Alexander was one of Huard’s top receivers at Kennedy Catholic during their four seasons, finishing his career 236 catches for 4,032 yards and 63 touchdowns across 37 games.

His career receptions in high school tied former Skyline, UW and NFL receiver Kasen Williams for fifth on the state’s all-time list, and his career yardage ranked fifth behind Williams.

Alexander’s 63 touchdown receptions ranked tied for third in state history with former Hockinson and UW wide receiver Sawyer Racanelli, who is now at Montana.

Alexander topped 1,000 yards in a season as both a sophomore and junior at Kennedy Catholic, and was key in Huard’s record-setting career, in which the five-star quarterback reset the state’s career passing mark in his final game in the spring of 2021.

Tinae also started alongside Alexander for four seasons, finishing ranked seventh in state history in career yardage (189 catches, 4,030 yards and 43 touchdowns in 35 games).

Alexander was a consensus four-star recruit in the 2021 class, considered the No. 7 player in the state’s loaded class that year and the No. 33 wide receiver nationally by 247Sports.com.

He was a member of The News Tribune’s Northwest Nuggets and Western 100 classes in 2021, and a two-time TNT All-Area selection.

He was also the Class 4A North Puget Sound League offensive back of the year as a senior, and a three-time first-team receiver in the league, as well as an Associate Press all-state pick his junior season, when he tallied 67 catches for 1,328 and 24 touchdowns as Kennedy Catholic reached the 4A state quarterfinals.

Alexander held 17 offers from Division I programs — including eight Pac-12 schools in Arizona, Arizona State, California, Colorado, Oregon, Utah, UW and Washington State — before committing to the Sun Devils the summer before his senior year.

At UW, he joins a young, talented receivers room that also includes three of the Huskies’ top four pass catchers from last season’s group, including a pair of four-star recruits from the 2020 class in Jalen McMillan and Rome Odunze, and Taj Davis, two proven 2021 transfers in Giles Jackson and Ja’Lynn Polk, his former Lancers teammate in Tinae and incoming local three-star recruit Denzel Boston.