Alfonso Hampton is 6-5, 315, and he didn’t play football in high school. Southwestern Community College Jaguars defensive coordinator Dionicio Monarrez spotted him on campus and urged him to come out. A couple guys in the weight room worked on him too. Monarrez gave him a tour, got him a uniform, and now the athletic big man is getting scholarship offers and interest from four-year schools.
Still learning the game, J.C. Grid-Wire named him the top defensive tackle prospect in the country, a pre-season JC All-American. In his first season he had 23 tackles, 2.5 sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss. The Jags won the Mountain Conference and the American Division Conference bowl championship.
Hampton comes alive: In his second year of organized football, Alfonso Hampton is turning heads and cracking them. He doesn’t bother to take names (scout.com photo).
This year they are 8-1, conference champions again after a 31-30 victory Victor Valley, their 7th win in a row. Head coach Ed Carberry calls Hampton “a giant with exceptional quickness.” Scouts rave about his potential, how he might learn and improve in a top program with coaching, competition and top-flight agility training and conditioning. Already in his 2nd year playing he has 29 tackles, 4.5 sacks.
In Week 6 against San Diego Mesa Monarrez named him Defensive Player of the Week for his persistence in the run game and getting pressure on the quarterback. Hampton grabbed two TFLs in a 34-0 shutout. Mesa punted 11 times, turned the ball over on downs, fumbled once. The team won a close won against conference rival Palomar in October, 31-28. The massive defensive tackle had 1.5 sacks in their first win over the Comets in 25 years.
Hampton has the great work ethic to compensate for his short time in the game. He says his favorite thing to do outside football is work out, and he has the ripped arms and shoulders to prove it. Already he’s garnered scholarship offers from a handful of schools, Idaho, Akron and New Mexico among them, and schools like the Ducks, USC and Texas A&M are expressing interest.
Players his size with athletic ability are rare. On film, he shows tremendous power and good lateral movement. He can fight through blocks and swarm to the quarterback, displaying intensity, desire and effort, plus the right level of edgy nastiness getting to the ball carrier. Ron Aiken can work with that. With some patient teaching, Hampton could follow his favorite athlete, Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens, into the NFL. He has the raw material to be a very good player, and the Ducks, as it’s been demonstrated, could use the size and strength in the middle.
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