Playing one sport at an extremely high level is difficult enough to do but playing two sports and excelling in both at the collegiate level, that's an entirely different thing, and an incredibly difficult feat to accomplish.
However, it's a feat that Baylor senior, Caleb Hampton is looking to accomplish as he takes the next step to the college level. After de-committing from South Carolina and reopening his recruitment, he's found a home at Stanford University, and officially committed last week.
"Stanford came really, really late in the process," Hampton said during a recent conversation I had with him on my radio show, The Word With G on ESPN Chattanooga 95.3.
When asked why he ultimately chose Stanford he said, "Well, the main reason was they were allowing me to play both sports, that was a big thing, especially at a place like Stanford. Their baseball program is incredibly good, their pre-ranked No. 3 right now (in the country) and football-wise, they're having a coaching change which I've experienced myself and I believe in coaching change."
Another big reason why he chose Stanford was the personal touch a particular coach brought to the table when they were recruiting him. "Coach (Malcolm) Agnew reached out to me; he really liked me a lot. He was always asking me how I was doing, checking up on me, and never gave up on me. So, that showed me how much they really cared about me not just as a player but as a man as well."
That personal touch from Stanford running back coach, Malcolm Agnew along with their willingness to allow him to play both baseball and football are why Caleb Hampton chose to commit to Stanford University, because they committed to him.
Hampton has won a State Championship in baseball (2021) and a State Title in football as well (2022) and he was also named as a Mr. Football finalist in the state of Tennessee.
As for the Stanford Cardinals, their baseball team is coming off back-to-back trips to the Men's College World Series. The football team, however, hasn't been as fortunate. They just finished a 3-9 season, 1-8 in Pac-12 play, and their long-time head coach, David Shaw just stepped down. Their new head coach was named in mid-December as Troy Taylor who was the coach at Sacramento State and compiled an impressive 30-8 record over the past three seasons.
We wish him nothing but the best for this coming baseball season and as he embarks on his colligate career soon after.
To hear the entire interview with Caleb Hampton click here.