Athlete of the Week: Oregon State football commit Aaron Hampton

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - West Anchorage Eagles senior standout Aaron Hampton is one of Alaska’s most dangerous players on offense.

“Scoring,” Hampton said in response to his favorite part about playing offense. “I love scoring touchdowns.”

He is also one of Alaska’s most feared players on defense.

“Tackling people,” he responded to the same question about defense. “I love tackling people, contact.”

The state’s top-rated receiver recently committed to Oregon State University’s Division I football program.

Hampton said the Beavers coaching staff is part of what drew him to the program.

“They’ve been on me since day one, since they were legally able to contact me and I just felt the love. Me and my family went down to Corvallis for visits and game days and just really fell in love with it,” Hampton said.

Standing at 6-foot-2 and weighing 225 pounds, Hampton’s elite speed, hands and footwork make him so versatile that Oregon State isn’t quite sure where the Swiss Army knife will be playing on the field yet.

“I’ll be coming out as an ‘athlete,’ so they’ll try me out everywhere, they preferably want me at linebacker though, that is more of the talks,” Hampton said.

Listed as a wide receiver and an outside linebacker for West High, Hampton led the Eagles to a 3-0 record and No. 1 state ranking before they fell to ‘Aiea in Hawaii over the weekend.

On offense, Hampton can get behind the defense on a route with his speed or you can simply get the ball in his hands and let him do the rest, like when he scored a 34-yard touchdown on a wide receiver screen in West’s 41-20 Week 1 win over the reigning Division I state champion Colony Knights.

On defense, he can line up on the line of scrimmage and give quarterbacks nightmares with his pass rush — or drop back into coverage and use his receiver skills to track down a ball and snatch an interception like he has multiple times this season.

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