PHOTO BY RICHARD AKRIDGE Badger sharpshooter Heath Hopson, joined by Lampasas head coach Scott Harrelson, left, and his parents DeMar and Hilton Hopson, signs to play basketball at Trinity University. Once Heath Hopson stepped foot on campus, he knew he belonged.

After encountering numerous opportunities to attend other institutions, the Lampasas High School basketball standout gave Trinity University a last-minute look.

He liked what he saw.

"I really think that is where God was leading me to go," Hopson said. "It was just kind of a different reaction.

"It's a feeling you can't explain."

Last week, the District 25-4A MVP made it official, and perhaps nobody is more excited than his future coach, Pat Cunningham.

"We really like his offensive skills," the coach said. "He has a chance to be a really good offensive player."

While the basketball program had a lot to do with the reason behind Hopson's decision, the academic credibility of the Division III school was the deciding factor.

"The main thing it came down to was academics," Hopson said.

Hopson plans to become a veterinarian.

"[He's] choosing Trinity for the right reasons," Cunningham said. "In addition to that, he wants to play basketball, versus the other way around."

For the senior, traveling the recruiting trail this season has been more like riding a roller coaster as he considered multiple schools, including Division I and Division II universities.

"There were ups every time a new school came to [me], and I thought that this is what my hard work has done for me," Hopson said. "But it was definitely a down every time [I] had to call a coach and tell them [I] wasn't considering their school.

"That was the hard part."

In the end, it came down to Trinity and the University of Texas at Dallas.

Hopson's high school coach, Scott Harrelson, agrees with the decision.

"He's going to play at an academic university that is second to few," Harrelson said. "If he puts his mind to it and works at it all summer, then he could make an impact [on the court] his first year."

Hopson will have an opportunity to make immediate noise as the Tigers are graduating six seniors, leaving the floor wide open for new players to emerge. Trinity will sport four freshmen on the upcoming roster.

The Tigers went 22-3 last season with a 13-2 record in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.

While the Badgers failed to excel as a team last season, Hopson had no problems producing. He set new single-season records in points, rebounds and blocks, becoming the school's careerleader in all three categories in the process.

"It is just fantastic to coach a guy that you know what he is going to give you night in and night out," Harrelson said. "That's what is really special about Heath. Every night he gave you everything he had.

"We will miss Heath, and we will miss knowing that we can get 27 points a game out of him. [And that's] on a bad day."