New Texas Tech football WR Roy Alexander's long road finally led him to Red Raiders
Roy Alexander will wear No. 18 for the Texas Tech football team , not because he has any history with that uniform number, and not even because he chose it.
"I was one of the last transfers to come in, so it was really like, 'Whatever y'all got left for me,' " Alexander said cheerfully.
What matters to the Red Raiders ' new receiver is simply that he's here — in the FBS, at a power-conference program for the first time — in his sixth year of college football. It's what he dreamed for himself as a youngster in Fort Myers, Florida, living next door to a future all-American and NFL receiver.
"As a kid, you always wanted to have that edge of playing at the biggest level," Alexander said last week. "For me, it wasn't always that, so I really had to start small and work my way up, keep grinding out every day. So I feel like my journey was a blessing, honestly."
More: Where Texas Tech football ranks in preseason US LMB Coaches Poll Top 25
More: Why polls still matter in college football — yes, even in August | Don Williams column
Alexander got the attention of major colleges by putting up career numbers last year at Incarnate Word . The 5-foot-11, 205-pound inside receiver caught 100 passes for 1,108 yards and 13 touchdowns — figures that ranked second, tied for ninth, and fifth, respectively, in the FCS. The Cardinals went 11-3, reaching the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs.
He transferred after spring practice and joined the Red Raiders.
Kind of like climbing a mountain and reaching the summit.
More: Coy Eakin, Texas Tech football teammates welcome sport's new economics, $15.1M revenue sharing
More: Ranking Texas Tech football's 2025 games based on intrigue, team talent and potential chaos
Alexander grew up the youngest of eight children under one roof: his mother's four kids and his aunt's four kids. Next door was Sammy Watkins , who'd go on to be a two-time first-team all-American at Clemson and a nine-year NFL pass catcher.
Alexander's career wouldn't be so smoothly paved after he graduated from Fort Myers Riverdale in 2019. He said he was offered spots by several small colleges, but wanted more, so he spent six months at Bridgton Academy, a prep school in Bridgton, Maine. Then came four football seasons — the first a Covid-delayed schedule of four games in March 2021 — at UAlbany, an FCS school in Albany, New York.
Alexander caught 37 passes for 560 yards and 3 TDs during the Great Danes' regular 2021 season, made 47 catches for 610 yards and 2 TDs in 2022, and 18 for 144 yards and 2 TDs in an injury-shortened 2023.
UAlbany went from 2-9 and 3-8 in Alexander's first two full seasons to 11-4 and the FCS semifinals in his last year.
Of his football road, Alexander said, "Oh, man, I would say it's a blessing, honestly. You know, a lot of guys their journey (is) pretty easy. I feel like on my journey, it really tested my faith a lot to see how much I really wanted."
Bridgton, Maine, was 1,600 miles from home with a population of fewer than 6,000 people. At UAlbany, he had two productive seasons but missed some of the fun toward the end.
"I had a bad year, my last year. I got hurt there," he said. "I had to try to find myself again, and then I came to Incarnate Word, had a breakout year around a great group of people that put me in a lot of good positions, and now here at Texas Tech , it's just like a blessing."
More: Texas Tech football future non-conference schedules, game guarantee amounts
Tech coach Joey McGuire listed Alexander as the backup to inside receiver Coy Eakin going into preseason practice. He's behind J'Koby Williams as the punt-return man, an off-return option for kickoff return, and could be used in a variety of ways on offense.
Alexander has not returned punts in college, but at UAlbany, he returned 35 kickoffs for a 20.5-yard average.
"Man, he is a guy that brings a lot to the table," McGuire said. "Talking to (special teams coordinator) Kenny, coach Perry goes, 'Man, he's such a natural at returning punts.' "
Alexander wasn't used in the return game at UIW, he thinks, because coaches didn't want to overwork him and risk injury.
"When we talked to their coaches," McGuire said, "their big deal was, 'We try to get the ball in his hands also in the run game, like jet sweeps. ... If we went into a game and we had a two-back package where it was (Quinten Joyner) and J'Koby out there, your backups could easily be Cam (Dickey) and Roy. He's a kid you could put in the backfield. He's got a real thickness."
Wherever he ends up playing, at least Alexander can have all he's wanted. He's reminded each day, just walking into the Red Raiders' fancy new Womble Football Center.
"Coming from two FCS schools and they're small, not really that many resources," he said, "and then you come here and the training room is basically bigger than the locker room that you just came from, I feel like it's a blessing. What really makes it special is the people around you, though."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Roy Alexander's long road finally led to Texas Tech football program
