Hampton of MUS balances success in two sports
For Teka Hampton, it was every parent's worst nightmare.
Hampton was alone at home with her son Maurice when she decided to lay him down in a quiet spot so she could have a few minutes of mom time. How far could a six-month-old go, right?
"I put him down on the floor on a blanket while I went in to take a shower," she recalled. "And when I came back out, he was gone. I called my husband ... 'somebody came in our house and stole our baby!'
"But then I heard a noise ... he had gone upstairs. He started walking at nine months, running at 10 months."
How Hampton was able to get up those stairs is anyone's guess. But it showed his mom early on that she had a special kind of athlete on her hands. And now — 16 years later — Hampton is still striving.
'I love playing baseball just as much as I love playing football'
In an age where specialization, even at the high school level, is becoming more and more common, Hampton is a true multi-sport star. The junior cornerback — who doubles at wide receiver for the Owls — is second in Tennessee in the latest 24/7 Sports rankings.
But he's equally valued in baseball, where his muscular frame and blazing speed make him a terrific centerfield prospect. Hampton has been verbally committed to LSU in both sports since his sophomore year and makes it clear that he has no intention of choosing one sport over the other just yet.
"So far, I've done a pretty good job balancing both," he said. "When it's football season I play football and when it's baseball season I play baseball. As far as people that try to persuade me to pick one or the other ... they obviously don't have my best interests (at heart).
"I love playing baseball just as much as I love playing football and I don't want to give any one of them up. Wherever I go (to college), I want to do both."
'He's sort of a freak of nature'
MUS is delighted to give him the chance to do both at the high school level. Despite rarely being tested by opposing quarterbacks, Hampton was an allstate defensive back in Division II this past season. And entering this week's two-game series with Briarcrest, he was batting .450 and slugging .675 while tying John Bolton for the team RBI lead with nine through the first 13 games.
The first meeting against the Saints Tuesday showed what Hampton was capable of. After going 0 for 3 with a walk through seven innings, he spanked a double with two out in the bottom of the eighth before racing home on Bolton's hit to give the Owls a come-frombehind 4-3 victory.
In essence, he did what the great ones do: rise to the occasion.
"He's sort of a freak of nature in regards to his physical ability," said Owls coach John Jarnigan, who has been coaching for nearly four decades.
"That's exactly what the football guys say but from a baseball standpoint, you don't really see guys with that physical ability. He's really a man among boys and he just turned 16. He's going to be a 17-year-old graduate.
"Year to year, he's becoming a better baseball player (and) if you ask our coach Bo Hart, who played with the Redbirds and Cardinals, he'll say the same thing. We expect more things out of him when really we shouldn't. He's just a young guy."
Not that mixing with the older crowd has ever been a problem.
"When he was like four or five, my husband coached youth football and he'd go to practice with him," Teka Hampton said. "Running through the dummies ... his feet were better than the boys that were older than him.
"And his speed ... my husband would tell the boys 'you have to beat Mo-J before you can stop running.'"
Even someone as talented as Hampton has limits. He's had to give up basketball but still finds time this spring to run track.
Last week, for example, he won the 100 in a meet MUS was hosting before quickly heading over to Thorn Field for that day's baseball game.
A few minutes after limbering up, he was on base with a double.
"It's tough," Hampton said of his multi-sport status. "As far as school goes (and) MUS being tough academically and then managing football and baseball, having a social life, going to church on Sundays ... it's pretty tough to manage everything."
But like he did with those stairs, Hampton is managing just fine.
Reach John Varlas at john.varlas@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @johnvarlas