The first time Jalin Conyers put on the Texas Tech scarlet and black was the most nervous he’s ever been for a football game. Forget the 60,229 screaming fans in attendance for Tech’s season opener against Abilene Christian; Conyers had 40 of his friends and family members there specifically for him.

His grandfather, Colin Locke, was among them. Conyers’ ‘Pops’ was a lifelong Texas Tech fan who used to scour Seat Geek for last-minute deals to football games that he could take his grandson to. Since every fan stood the entire game, Pops used to hoist Conyers onto his shoulders to see over them. When he got tired, Conyers would stand on the stadium chair. 

He and Pops were seated in the middle of the North End Zone where Michael Crabtree scored a game-winning touchdown against No. 1-ranked Texas in 2008.

“Since he was in diapers, he had a Texas Tech jersey on,” Pops said.

Now Conyers, a college senior, was playing on the Jones AT&T Stadium turf he used to watch his heroes on. At that moment, this grown man was again the kid on his grandfather’s shoulders.

“I can’t tell you how many times he walked up to me before the game started and said, ‘Man, how awesome is this? Look at this place. This is something I dreamed of my whole life,’” Texas Tech offensive coordinator Zach Kittley said.

Saturday’s Big 12 opener against Arizona State, where Conyers spent two years of his career, is not a revenge game. He’s thankful for his time in Tempe and still has friends there. Conyers decided to leave because he had to return home. 

“Football can end in a second,” Conyers said. “If it was going to end next Saturday, I want to be playing in front of my family, friends and everyone who supported me through high school.”

Conyers grew up in Stinnett and attended West Texas High School for two years, where he excelled as a quarterback. 

In fact, he first met Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton in the second grade when they were both aspiring signal callers at the Air It Out passing camp in Abilene. The duo won the group’s one-handed catch competition and sparked a lifelong friendship.

But as a sophomore, Conyers thought his future was in Division I basketball after leading the Comanches to the Class 2A state championship.

Then his mother, Kimberly, got the principal job at Gruver High School, 33 minutes north in the Texas Panhandle. Pops and Jalin’s grandmother cried that day. Kimberly and her parents had built their houses together in Stinnett and erected a little gym for Jalin’s four younger siblings. They still live in that house where Jalin played in the backyard, and they didn’t miss a game when he started competing for bigger stakes at Gruver.

The move ended Conyers’ quarterback dreams but opened a new path to Division I athletics. Since Gruver was returning District MVP quarterback Keegan Kelp, Conyers moved to wide receiver. In the state championship, Conyers broke three Class 2A state records with 12 receptions for 224 yards and three touchdowns. That’s when his future changed to football.

Conyers’ high school coach, Terry Felderhoff, remembers then-Texas Tech defensive coordinator Keith Patterson as the first college coach to contact the Gruver staff about Conyers. But Patterson was beaten out by his own Red Raider coaches.

“Patterson called back two days after he first called me and said, ‘Well, the offensive guys have seen the tape, so I’m not going to get him for defense,’” Felderhoff said.

Texas Tech head coach Matt Wells gave Conyers his first college offer on Feb. 23, 2019, just two months after his breakout state championship game. He’d wanted this opportunity since going to Texas Tech games with Pops. He tried to commit on the spot.

But Wells wouldn’t take it.

Wells knew Conyers was about to blow up on the recruiting trail and wanted him to enjoy the experience. He suggested that Conyers take all the visits he could, and if he still wanted to attend Texas Tech after, they’d take his commitment.

Conyers was bewildered. He knew what he wanted. But as time passed, Conyers came to respect Wells' reasoning. He ended his high school career with 22 offers and much more to think about than he ever hoped for.

“I definitely didn’t understand it at the time,” Conyers said. “But looking back, I can see why he said it.”

On the day Conyers cut his top schools list from six to three, Felderhoff asked which schools had made it. Conyers told him he was scared to say. He’d grown up all his life in Red Raider country and was about to tell everyone he wasn’t attending the hometown school. 

“In Gruver and the Panhandle, you can’t throw a rock without hitting a Tech graduate,” Felderhoff said. “I said, ‘Jalin, here’s the deal. These people may tease you a little bit about it. But, ultimately, every one of these people in this town wants the same thing I want for you; they want you to go where you feel you need to be.'”

And that’s how the kid who used to wear a Texas Tech jersey in his diapers got away.

Pops has put a lot of miles on his car over the years. After one season with the Oklahoma Sooners, Conyers transferred to Arizona State, over an 11-hour drive down I-40W away. 

He and his wife were there for almost every home game and even made it to a couple away games, like against Colorado in 2022 when Conyers had six catches for 108 yards and three touchdowns. Felderhoff made it to Arizona once a year and attended Conyers’ final game with the Sun Devils against Arizona.

There’s a Conyers contingent that would travel anywhere for him. But for his final season of college eligibility, Conyers wanted to make that drive a little closer. He committed to Texas Tech on Dec. 10, 2023. Joey McGuire’s staff took it, this time.

“I was pretty ecstatic,” Pops said. “I don’t know that I hit the roof, but I came close.”

Pops has ten season tickets for the entire family to attend every Texas Tech home game. No need for Seat Geek anymore. Conyers’ three little brothers attend Gruver and can be there in person for his final college season. They were kids when Conyers went through the recruiting process for the first time. They’d watch him take eight phone calls from college coaches in the family den and pepper him with questions after he hung up. Their oldest brother has always been a role model, showing them they can make it big wherever they live.

“It’s not impossible,” Conyers said. “Whether you’re from a 6A high school, a 1A high school or home school, whatever your situation may be, as long as you put your mind to it and you refuse to quit chasing your dreams, you can make it happen.”

In an era where the Transfer Portal is used as a blanket indictment on the new college football culture, which incentivizes money and playing time, Conyers represents how the Portal can bring families closer together. Of course, Conyers received some money from the Matador Club, but having 40 of his biggest fans in the stands was the bigger payoff.

Sometimes, the long road home is more rewarding.