From high school star to college walk-on, from walk-on to starter, and from starter to team leader, Cal defensive back Brandon Hampton hasn't followed the footsteps of a typical collegiate standout. Now heading into his senior season, the Los Angeles native will take on another challenge, as he will try to entrench himself as one of the Bears' starting cornerbacks come September 1 against Tennessee.

Hampton was certainly no scrub in high school. The 5-foot-10, 193-pound athlete rushed for over 1,600 yards as a senior at Westchester High in Los Angeles en route to earning first team all-city and all-league honors. Hampton also was a stud on the track, quickly becoming one of the Comets' top sprinters in the 100, 200, and 400 meter dashes.

For various reasons though - reasons that Hampton says to this day he is unsure of - schools didn't recruit the Westchester standout running back nearly as hard as one might expect a Los Angeles athlete would be honored with. Eventually, Bears coach Jeff Tedford managed to see some film on Hampton and extended an offer for Hampton to walk-on to the program.

Hampton accepted the offer and four years later, as they say, the rest is history.


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