Joe Steele had just come back from an exhausting recruiting visit to Nebraska, and he decided to cancel his upcoming visit to Notre Dame.
The 6-foot-4 running back with a great combination of speed and power was going to be a Husky.
That decision more than four decades ago did not get one-hundredth of the fanfare that it would today. But it might have been the most important commitment Don James got during his highly successful tenure as Washington’s coach (1975-92).
Steele, who starred for Seattle’s Bishop Blanchet, was one of the mostly touted prep players in state history.