When he spoke with 11 News Sports on Friday morning, he was about to attend a lecture by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates.

Later that weekend he was lacing up his cleats as captain of the Navy baseball team for a big series versus rival Army.

"The main thing I had to do when I first got to the Academy was to learn how to manage my time," Hamilton said. "Between school and baseball and other obligations, it was overwhelming."

But Thomas almost didn't end up at the Academy. In 2004, he played on a stellar baseball team at Lamar High School with future standouts such as former Rice University star Joe Savery.

The Cardinals were loaded with talent that year, and many of the players went on to compete in college. Hamilton received a recruiting call from the Naval Academy the summer before his senior year, but he really wasn't interested. He even took a trip to Annapolis, Md., but not even the beauty of the small town with the great Navy tradition could seduce him. But a few weeks later he changed his mind.

"I started to realize it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, when you think of the superior education and the service to your country -- how I have turned that down?" he said. "Besides , I would still be playing Division 1 baseball, and if I just hated it, I could always come home."

But according to Hamilton, going from Houston to the Academy presented some major lifestyle changes.

"I wasn't used to military life," he said. "My parents were really strict when I was growing up, so I had some ideas where the boundaries were, but living with so many people in such close quarters took some getting used to."

There are always lots of dignitaries visiting the Academy. President Bush has been on campus twice during Hamilton's four years. Sen. John McCain was there two weeks ago for one of the Academy's 4-star lectures. The visit is something Thomas and the other middies took a lot pride in.

"President Carter was the first Naval Academy graduate to become Commander-in-Chief," he said. "We can all be very proud Sen. McCain is running for the highest office in the land."

In his four years at the academy, Hamilton has gotten to see the world. He recently took part in a summer training course at Pearl Harbor and has met people from all over the nation, from all walks of life and said it's been great.

What's next for the 22-year-old senior? He will have to do five years of active duty and has already been assigned to the USS Mobile Bay CG53, which is stationed in San Diego. Hamilton will be an Ensign when he departs in late June and will be gone six to eight months serving our country.

-- Butch Alsandor, 11 News Sports