Left tackle and running back. Shortstop and catcher. Whatever the sport, twin brothers Eli and Evan Hampton are always side by side, so it was only fitting that the duo signed their college letters together on Wednesday. Evan will be attending Vanderbilt University to play football, while Eli will be taking his baseball talents to John A. Logan College.
On the gridiron, the brothers have done nothing but win since arriving at Owensboro, helping lead the Red Devils to a 5A State Championship appearance set for this Saturday. On the diamond, they won a 9th District title and made multiple trips to the 3rd Region tournament.
“It’s super special. This is something we have always dreamed of together and we have talked about,” Evan said. “It got here a lot faster than I thought it would. I think everybody can attest to that. I am just super blessed to be a part of something like this, and doing it next to each other is really cool.”
The Red Devils’ running back and shortstop, Evan recently became the school’s second all-time leading rusher and broke the record for most rushing yards in a game. Originally committed to the University of Louisville, he flipped to Vanderbilt over the summer.
“I hold no ill will against them, but I had the opportunity to take an official visit over the summer to Vanderbilt,” Evan said. “I fell in love with the place, and I knew that was home for me. In July, I made that flip. Vanderbilt is who I am. It’s my identity. I mold into that program really well, and that’s the reason I chose it.”
Eli knew baseball was his calling when he started to enjoy those practices more than football. The Red Devils’ starting catcher, he reached varsity alongside his brother as a seventh-grader. This past season, he led the team in batting average, homers, and RBIs.
Early in his varsity career, he realized he could play at the collegiate level, and while Eli had interest from multiple schools, he acknowledged John A. Logan was home.
“I felt it was a better opportunity for me to go this route,” Eli said. “John A. Logan has a tremendous history of sending baseball players to high-power four teams. So, they have a great run there. The coach has done a tremendous job, and I am very excited to be there.”
Shortly after the football season ends, Evan will be early enrolling at Vanderbilt, making the spring baseball season one of the few times in a long time the duo haven’t played side by side.
“I was able to get used to it this year in the summer,” Eli said. “He actually decided not to play summer baseball, so he wasn’t on the team with me. So, at first, it was a little. Who do I talk to in the middle innings? But I got used to it. Yes, it will be weird, but knowing that he’s at Vanderbilt working hard and trying to see the field as a freshman, it will be all right.”
