Sophomore diver Austin Hampton has been through plenty of changes in his career. He’s had 15 coaches in 12 years, but the one thing that has remained consistent — his success.

Since diving coach Mike Finneran left in mid-December, Hampton has not slipped past 2nd place in any event. He’s placed 1st twice and 2nd three times.

“It’s been a little difficult changing when our coach got fired,” Hampton said. “Mike Finneran was by far one of the best coaches I had, but you can’t get hung up on him or else it’s just going to hurt you.”

It was tough for Hampton when Finneran left because the coach recruited Hampton for the two weeks prior to his commitment to N.C. State. Finneran persuaded him to choose State over Alabama, Michigan and Florida State.

“I only talked to coach Finneran for about two weeks before I came up here, which is kind of funny because usually you talk to coaches for a lot longer before they actually convince you,” Hampton said. “I came up here, and I really liked it. Everybody felt like a family and I felt like I was at home.”

Last year, Hampton won 12 events and set a new school record on the three-meter dive. This season, he has finished no lower than 3rd in any event and has seven wins- the most among divers and the 3rd best total on the team. He also broke his own record on the three-meter dive at the Nov. 4 meet against Duke and Maryland with a score of 366.80.

“Just to have my name up on that board is awesome,” Hampton said. “Being at a [Division-I] college program and just having your name up on a record board is a very good accomplishment.”

Looking back on all of his accomplishments this season, Hampton is very pleased and said he has met many of the goals that he set coming into his sophomore season.

“I made goals for myself,” Hampton said. “I wanted to be undefeated in the first half on at least one board, and I did that. I was undefeated on one-meter in the first half.”

Still, Austin Hampton knows his season is far from over, and he is working hard to reach his other targets for this year.

“The rest of the year, I want to make top-3 at ACC’s and finals at ACC’s,” Hampton said. “I just need to do some touch-ups here and there, and I definitely need to work on my mental game, but I feel pretty ready for ACC’s, and I’ve been working really hard.”

He also hopes to reach the NCAA’s this season — something he barely missed last year.

“To make it to the NCAA’s would be my biggest goal,” Hampton said. “I was one point off last year and I was the first alternate.”

After all his success in his first two years for the Wolfpack, Hampton has set his goals even higher for the rest of his collegiate diving career.

“Next year I just want to break all the records,” Hampton said.