"You’ve got to do the right thing. We wish him the best," Chris Petersen says.
Former five-star linebacker Ale Kaho, the crown jewel of the Huskies’ 2018 recruiting class, has been granted a release from his National Letter of Intent, Washington coach Chris Petersen said Monday.
“He has been granted a release,” Petersen said after practice Monday evening. “His family was really adamant that he needs to — he’s going through some stuff and he needs to be close to his family. And we get that. You’ve got to do the right thing. We wish him the best.”
As part of his release from the NLI, Washington cannot “block” him from attending any other school. There are no restrictions on when or where he can sign next.
Two members of Kaho’s family, an aunt and an uncle of his, died suddenly last month back in his hometown of Reno, Nev. Kaho’s parents have also been going through a divorce, a family member told The Seattle Times late last week.
Most Read Sports Stories
The linebacker — who signed an NLI with the Huskies last December — chose UW over Alabama, among other high-profile programs.
Multiple sources close to Kaho’s recruitment told The Times that they expect Alabama to reenter the picture for Kaho.
Kaho was in Seattle for six weeks this summer but was unable to participate in the Huskies’ formal offseason training program because he still had one high-school class to complete before he could enroll at UW.
“This is a rare situation. We didn’t get him in the summer time, and I think it’s just a unique situation. And then when you get a unique situation you just try to do what you think is the right thing and go from there.”
After Kaho returned to Reno for his family’s members’ memorial services, family members were worried about the linebacker’s health. One close relative claimed Kaho had lost some 20 pounds while in Seattle this summer.
“Football is not even our concern right now,” the family member said. “He does not look right. He does not act right. He’s not the same bubbly kid we know.”
Kaho was ranked by 247Sports as the No. 21 overall recruit in the nation for the Class of 2018, the No. 1 inside linebacker in the nation and the No. 3 overall recruit in the West. He signed an NLI with the Huskies during the early signing period last December, becoming the highest-ranked recruit Petersen has signed in his head-coaching career.