Five-star Devin Sanchez has football elites after him

HOUSTON – Devin Sanchez was only three years old when Daniel and Deetra Sanchez realized their youngest boy was a special athlete. Devin was always around when Daniel was coaching his oldest son Dylan’s youth football team.

He would always imitate what the older boys were doing in practice. Naturally he joined in when Daniel lined up the nine-year-old boys for sprints. Although Devin was only three, he would beat his older brother and the rest of the team in the sprint races. 

“I was just out there playing around,” Devin Sanchez says of those sprints. “It was fun just to be out there just with some guys that are older.” 

Early impression

At that point Daniel and Deetra knew their youngest boy inherited the genes that helped both of them garner athletic scholarships to the University of Texas – El Paso.  

“That was the start, going out and doing that,” Daniel Sanchez said.

It took Devin a little longer to realize what everybody involved in college football recruiting knows now. The junior cornerback at Houston area powerhouse North Shore High is already one of the best high school football players in America. He’s also one of the best sprinters in Texas.

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound five-star recruit is Our Esquina’s 2023 National High School Football Preseason MVP. He leads Our Esquina’s High School All-America Team, presented by Parking Company of America.

Even though Sanchez is only a junior, he’s the most sought Latino high school player in America. He is rated as the Class of 2025’s No. 8 overall prospect in the country by 247Sports. The five-star cornerback is rated as the No. 2 junior in Texas and the No. 2 junior cornerback in the country.

Alabama offer opened eyes

He received his first football scholarship offer from UT San Antonio during his freshman year. Devin has garnered 35 offers already. The one from perennial power Alabama in June 2022 opened his eyes before his sophomore season.

“After I got it, I kind of realized I’m a big-time player,” he says of his Alabama offer. “I’m not really too much looking into it, but I knew after I got that offer I was one of the top players.”

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The University of Texas offered Sanchez soon after Alabama did. Texas A&M took a little longer to offer, Daniel Sanchez says, but Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies offered as well. Devin will actually be in College Station, Texas, this upcoming weekend to watch Texas A&M’s season opener against New Mexico.

The college offers have driven Devin on the field and in the classroom. He is pushing himself in the classroom to graduate a semester early so he can enroll at his college destination in the spring of his senior year.

“Education is very important,” Devin says. “I’m going to be an early (enrollee). I’m going to graduate in December (2024). I’m taking classes that are way harder that most juniors don’t want to take until their senior year.”

Devin Sanchez has mom’s speed

Deetra Sanchez was a sprinter at UTEP. She ran the 200 and 400-meter races. She smiles approvingly when asked if Devin got his speed from her. Devin ran a personal best time of 10.8 seconds in the 100 meters and 49 seconds in the 400 meters last season. He also anchored North Shore’s 4-by-100, 4-by-200 and 4-by-400 relay teams, guiding the last two to the Regional Finals.

Devin, whose paternal grandfather is a Mexican American from Galveston, appears on pace to become the fourth college athlete in his family. His older brother Dylan was a defensive tackle at Texas A&M-Kingsville. 

Dylan Sanchez is now an assistant football coach and a paraprofessional teacher at Houston’s Sam Rayburn High. Daniel starred at Galveston Ball High before heading to UTEP.

The elder Sanchez says Devin is a totally different kid than Daniel was coming out of Ball High in 1994. 

“Circumstances were totally different,” Daniel said. “What I did learn in college after I got done playing ball was how much about ball I didn’t know. I’ve been able to recognize some of the things that I lacked when I was going through my college experience.”

BREAKING: Five-Star CB Devin Sanchez (2025) is down to 🔟 Schools!

The 6’2 180 CB from Houston, TX is ranked as the No. 7 Player in the ‘25 Class (No. 2 CB)

Where Should He Go?👇🏽https://t.co/oTUHXHIX8y pic.twitter.com/Jn9nIEJAsu

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) August 3, 2023

Daniel and Deetra Sanchez have been married for 20 years. They’ve helped give Devin and his siblings the knowledge that they didn’t have growing up. 

“Education is really important to us,” Daniel says. “My wife and I being former athletes, we both understand sports is another avenue to open up opportunities. We push it. All it can do is open doors.”

Nothing given

Equally important, Devin credits his parents with instilling in him the importance of a good work ethic. If he could tell people one thing about himself, Devin is adamant that he’d tell them he’s a “great kid to be around.”

He also prides himself on being a good listener. As a football player and student, however, he wants people to know that he’s always going to work hard and compete. He proved as much last year as a sophomore on a team that fell just short of its second consecutive Texas 6A state title. 

Even though he had just earned a scholarship offer from Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide, he wasn’t handed a starting spot that fall at North Shore. He entered his sophomore season as a backup even though his then-head coach Jon Kay would later say that he might be the best cornerback to come out of North Shore. 

Devin didn’t earn his first start at North Shore until the third game of his sophomore season. He proved to be a lockdown corner while helping North Shore reach the state championship game.

“It was a wake-up call that not everything will be handed to you,” Devin said, “so you gotta work to get it.”