The news today of the dismissal of UW tight end Kavario Middleton not only shook those at Washington, but also at Lakes High School in Lakewood --- one of the leading producers of talent in the state --- where Middleton was a standout football and basketball player.

Lakes High coach Dave Miller said today that he supports the action of UW coach Steve Sarkisian and hopes that it serves as a wakeup call for Middleton, one of the top recruits in the country in 2008.

"Sark went through a lot with Kavario, as did I for four years, and gave him every opportunity to improve and make the right choices, and Kavario didn't do that, so now he's going to have to bear the consequences,'' Miller said. "I'm sick about it. It's sickening to me to imagine a young man having the talent and the ability and the potential that he has and wasting this kind of an opportunity just by making some real immature choices.

"I support Sark's decision. I think Sark gave him every opportunity to improve and grow and it got to the point where he had to make this choice for what is best for the team and what is hopefully best for Kavario in the long run. Hopefully now he will have the opportunity to take the right Y in the road and start growing and making better choices.''

Middleton was not in legal trouble and was eligible academically, various sources have confirmed. However, there were other off-field issues that helped lead to his being kicked off the team, a final decision apparently made on Saturday.

One source (not Miller) confirmed that there is truth to rumors that a recent failed drug test was the last straw for Middleton. While UW cannot randomly drug test its athletes due to state laws, it can test specific athletes if it has reasonable suspicion.

Miller said only that Middleton had already been given "several chances'' to get back in good standing with the team.

"Sark sat him down and took him through the process and just gave him several chances to show that he wanted to improve, and it didn't happen,'' Miller said. "It got to the point where he had no choice but to cut ties with him.

"He's a good kid and he's still young, but he's got to learn to make better choices. I hope that he can grow from this and hopefully he will get another chance somewhere else. It's sad that he wasted a great opportunity at Washington, and that is definitely done. But it's not a death penalty, and hopefully he can learn. Sometimes hitting rock bottom will wake someone up. That's my hope.''

Miller said that maybe some distance from the high expectations Middleton encountered at UW as a Parade All-American who chose the Huskies in a much-anticipated press conference in Nov., 2007 might help him rebound.

"He's got to be accountable for this,'' Miller said. "But an 18-year-old kid with that kind of pressure and hype, sometimes that plays into it. You've got to learn to deal with that, and that's a lot to throw on an 18-year-old kid. Some kids handle it better than others. We are in the business of trying to grow kids into men and hopefully this will get him spurred into making the right decisions.''

UPDATE: 5:30 p.m. --- Miller is also scheduled to appear on KJR-AM tonight at 8:20 to talk about Middleton's dismissal.