Coach Hernandez returns to Wilson following DCPS investigation
September 9, 2018
Angelo Hernandez has been reinstated as pathway coordinator and boys basketball head coach after being put on administrative leave last April. Hernandez was suspended while DCPS investigated the residency of two players on the Wilson basketball team.
Hernandez has been Wilson’s head basketball coach for the past four years, and been a coach at Wilson for 10 years. Last season, the Tigers went undefeated and beat St. John’s, winning the DC State Championship for the first time. Coach Hernandez was named the Washington Post’s All-Met Coach of the Year, and the year before, was awarded the 2017 Conference Coach of the Year.
Hernandez declined to comment for this article.
The investigation into the residency of members of the Wilson basketball team came amidst an OSSE investigation which found profound residency fraud across the District and at Wilson. Hernandez was likely under suspicion for his success in getting transfer players onto the team, such as the Mitchell Twins from the Montverde Academy in Florida. While the investigation is still open, Hernandez has not been charged with any mistakes in verifying the residency of his players.
When Hernandez was first suspended in April, he doubted the motives behind the investigation. “I think it’s a witch hunt. But hey, I don’t know for sure. Nobody really knows, to be honest.” he said in an interview with The Washington Post in May. Since he has been reinstated, Hernandez has softened his rhetoric regarding the investigation.