Ethan Vasko talks about viral video, winning POY award
In December Ethan Vasko led Oscar Smith High to a state championship. It capped a great career for Vasko who put up eye-opening numbers over three years.
Once the season was over, he kept working out but did not throw a football for several weeks. And then on Thursday he decided to get the arm going again. And he was almost perfect with his throw. Almost.
Vasko posted a video on Instagram and TikTok throwing a football from 35 yards away aiming for a Gatorade bottle on his sister’s (Ashley) head.
“My sister actually saw a video of a younger kid,” Vasko said. “He was standing probably 10 yards out from his brother throwing a football and knocking a bottle off the head. And I was like, ‘I can do that, but I want to do it from further.’ And so, my sister really wanted to do it. She thought it would be cool.”
For the first time since winning the state championship Vasko decided to test his accuracy.
“It started to rain right when we went out there,” Vasko said. “So, I didn't warm up at all. We just went out there and I backed up, it was probably 30 yards, 35 yards and I just threw it and it looked good. When I let the ball go me or person recording didn’t say didn't say anything because it looked good, and it just hit her in the back of the head. I was thinking ‘oh man, I was hope she was okay.’”
Shortly after they realized there was no injury, and the video went viral.
“We found out she was fine, and we just started laughing,” he said. “It was awesome. She is fine and it was pretty cool. And then I posted it on TikTok actually, and then it just blew up after that.
“None of my other siblings would have done that, but she actually wanted to do it. We talked about it two days ago and then yesterday she was the one who brought it up. So, I was like, ‘Sure, I'll do it.’”
On the same day Vasko posted the video he was also named the Virginia 6A Player of the Year, which is the largest class in the state. In his three years as the starter for Oscar Smith he threw for over 9000 yards and led his team to two state titles and a runner-up.
“It feels really good,” Vasko said. “It's a cool feeling and I couldn't do it without any of my teammates or the coaches. But it definitely feels good, especially after all the hard work you put in every single season, just to know that people are out there seeing it and that you can put your talent on display every week whenever you play.”
Vasko signed with the Jayhawks in December. He had a long-standing relationship with quarterbacks coach Jim Zebrowski who recruited him at Buffalo and followed him when he took the job at Kansas.
This summer Zebrowski saw Vasko perform at a summer camp at Florida State where he threw the ball well and ran a 40 time in the 4.5 range. Once a spot opened to offer a quarterback Vasko was at the top of Zebrowski’s list.
Vasko signed his letter of intent without taking a visit to Kansas, but he will cross that off his list next week. He will start his official visit to Kansas on January 14.
“I’m looking forward to it and really see the whole area, because I've never been there,” he said. “I think it'll be cool to see everything around there and really get to know the area. I want try to see as many things as I can.”
