» MAIN » Schedule & Game Information » 2006 Roster » Depth Chart » NU in Transition

Published Thursday February 2, 2006 Callahan not giving up on luring Palmer to NU BY MITCH SHERMAN
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

		RELATED STORY
		»	NU football schedule
		RELATED LINKS
		»	Big 12 Football
		»	W-H Online Edition's Big Red Page
		»	Big 12 Football Stats

LINCOLN - Nebraska apparently lost the battle on Wednesday for safety Ashlee Palmer.

That is, if the Huskers want to stop fighting.

Washington included the junior-college All-American among its signing-day additions. Palmer, 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds out of Compton (Calif.) Community College, initially signed a letter of intent with NU in December but failed to qualify academically to enroll last month.

He was believed to have remained committed to the Huskers with plans to start school in August.

Everything changed Wednesday.

NCAA rules prohibit an athlete from signing more than one letter of intent in a 12-month period, meaning Palmer's signature on a Washington letter would be invalid. He could, however, sign nonbinding scholarship papers.

Nebraska cannot prevent him from enrolling at Washington, but the NCAA could rule Palmer ineligible to participate next season if he was found to have violated the terms of his initial letter of intent.

"He elected to go elsewhere," NU coach Bill Callahan said. "But I don't know if that battle is over with just yet. We'll see. It will be an interesting scenario as it plays out. We would certainly love to have him here at Nebraska.

"We're doing everything possible to get him to be a part of this class."

Palmer and Compton coach Angelo Jackson could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Palmer, rated as the nation's No. 38 juco prospect, was expected to bid for a starting position next season in the NU secondary. The Huskers lost starting safeties Daniel Bullocks and Blake Tiedtke after last season.

Also Wednesday, defensive tackle Charles Deas of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., signed with Louisiana State over Nebraska. The 6-4, 315-pounder had whittled his final choices to the Huskers and LSU after eliminating Auburn and Florida State.

He visited Lincoln on an official recruiting trip last month. The Huskers, who lose both starting defensive tackles from last season, signed only juco transfer Brandon Johnson at the position.

Contact the Omaha World-Herald newsroom

Copyright ©2006 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or distributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.