Remember Ale Kaho? One-time Husky LB Signee Leaves Alabama
Ale Kaho, once considered the nation's highest-rated linebacker recruit and temporarily a University of Washington football player, is leaving Alabama and has entered the transfer portal.
The 6-foot-1, 235-pound Kaho played three seasons and 40 games for the Crimson Tide as a special-teams standout and a back-up middle linebacker.
However, he never cracked Nick Saban's starting lineup.
Kaho always will be considered one of the ultimate fleece jobs at Washington.
After a spectacular career for the Reno High School Huskies, he signed with Chris Petersen's program. He spent a summer working out at the UW.
Out of the blue, Kaho asked for his release, citing family issues and the need to go home, and Petersen granted his request.
"He's going through some stuff and he needs to be close to his family and we get that," Petersen told reporters in 2018. "You've got to do the right thing."
Rather than end up south in his Nevada hometown, Kaho announced just two days later that he was enrolling at Alabama.
Petersen never talked about it publicly, but he must have felt the Crimson Tide took advantage of him and the Huskies. Saban's defensive coordinator at the time was Tosh Lupoi, who left Washington under questionable circumstances.
At Alabama, Kaho blocked three punts during the 2019 season and recovered one of them against Mississippi for a touchdown.
He was named Crimson Tide special-teams player of the week eight times during his stay in Tuscaloosa. He finished with 33 tackles, including 3 for lost yardage.
Even with one of the Alabama starting linebacker jobs open, Kaho, a senior with a season of eligibility left, chose to leave for a destination unknown.
Could he show up at Washington again?
At least one overbearing Husky fan was quick to reach out to him on social media once Kaho revealed he was done with the Crimson Tide and encourage him to come to Seattle.
It seems that that not all of Alabama really got to know Ale Kaho that well.
Consider this obscure comment from the website rollbamaroll.com: "Kaho is from Washington and my guess is that he heads back west."
From Washington? Not really.
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