MUKILTEO — Victor Sanchez Hernandez Jr. was born at the UW Medical Center, right across the street from Husky Stadium. So it’s only appropriate that he’s coming back to the site of his birth to play college football.
The Kamiak High School senior-to-be is staying home, as the star defensive end announced he has committed to play collegiately at the University of Washington starting in the 2025 season.
“It’s a blessing,” Sanchez Hernandez said. “Staying in my hometown means a lot.”
Sanchez Hernandez is rated as a three-star recruit by 247sports.com. The 6-foot-5, 230-pounder, who transferred to Kamiak last year following two years at Lynnwood, is ranked as the 16th-best Class of 2025 prospect in the state of Washington, and as the 113th-best edge rusher in the nation.
Sanchez Hernandez chose Washington over Oregon State, Utah and San Diego State.
Sanchez Hernandez said he was not being recruited by Washington’s previous coaching staff. But after Jedd Fisch succeeded Kalen DeBoer as head coach in January, the Huskies’ staff — and defensive line coach Jason Kaufusi in particular — reached out. Sanchez Hernandez attended Washington’s spring practices, then was offered a scholarship while attending a Huskies football camp. He announced his commitment to Washington on Sunday via social media.
“There were a lot of reasons,” Sanchez Hernandez said about why he chose UW. “First, it’s close to home, and I’ll feel like I’m playing for a bigger purpose than if I was outside the state. Another reason is because I really like coach Kaufusi, I really got to know him and connect with him, and I feel he’ll develop me into a good player. The third reason is because UW has something special going on right now. The environment at UW can led you to go to the NFL, and I want to be a part of that.
“Coach Kaufusi compared me to (UW edge rusher Zach) Durfee,” Sanchez Hernandez added. “He plays a little bit of everything: edge, 3-tech, 4-tech. (Kaufusi) still sees me was a true edge at UW, but he wants me to be versatile.”
It’s been a steep learning curve for Sanchez Hernandez, who didn’t begin playing football until he was a freshman in high school. Sanchez Hernandez is also a world-class junior taekwondo competitor, having started the sport when he was 6 years old. He’s a two-time junior national champion who was once ranked No. 1 in the world for his age and weight class.
Sanchez Hernandez said it was important to get his recruitment out of the way early so he could concentrate on his senior season at Kamiak, which begins in September. Sanchez Hernandez is coming off a season in which he was named first-team All-Wesco 4A at defensive line, but the Knights finished a disappointing 1-9, despite the presence of Sanchez Hernandez and fellow three-star Class of 2025 recruit T’Andre Waverly. So the motivation is high to turn things around at Kamiak.
“For me, I want to become first-team all-state, that’s one of my goals,” Sanchez Hernandez said. “But I just want to be a leader on my team. Last year was a rough year, I was a new transfer from Lynnwood to Kamiak, we had new coaches. This year I feel more confident in the team, we’re all really bonding and have good chemistry going on. I feel like we’ll be a dominant team this year.”
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