Jackson says recruit will come to UW afterall

The father of Washington women's basketball recruit Katelan Redmon said last month there was no way her daughter — unhappy with the firing of coach June Daugherty — would ever play for the Huskies.

"She's not going to Washington, no matter what," Chuck Redmon told the Spokesman-Review newspaper.

The family has apparently since changed its mind. Huskies coach Tia Jackson said Monday that Redmon has told her she will indeed be a Husky, although attempts to reach the Redmon family have been unsuccessful.

"She's coming to Washington," Jackson said of the 6-foot-1 forward from Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane, rated among the top 100 recruits in the country. "I always felt she was."

Katelan Redmon and her family had appealed to UW officials for her to be let out of her letter of intent.

Washington athletic director Todd Turner denied the request, saying it would set a bad precedent. Redmon appealed to the National Letter-of-Intent office. That was also denied.

Jackson, hired to replace Daugherty, said during the appeals, she kept in touch with Redmon, who led her school to back-to-back state titles.

In recent weeks, they met personally, and Jackson even took a long walk with Redmon through Redmon's neighborhood in Spokane. Jackson said she reaffirmed Redmon's decision in a phone call Monday.

"I felt I was destined to coach this young lady and it's going to happen," Jackson said.

Jackson said she wasn't concerned about a perception that the denials forced Redmon to play for the Huskies. She would have lost a year of eligibility and had to sit out a year if she went to another school.

Redmon was one of six players Daugherty signed in November, a class rated among the top 10 in the country by one recruiting service.

Jess McCormack, a 6-5 forward from New Zealand, also filed appeals with the school and NCAA letter-of-intent office to be released, Turner said. As it did with Redmon, the school denied McCormack's request. McCormack's appeal to the national office is still pending, with a decision due soon.

Jackson remains confident that McCormack will also become a Husky.