Mott Hyde has been an athlete his entire life. The senior has been playing basketball since he was just a kid.

“I started back when I was little playing recreational ball,” he said. “I was probably five or six.”

Hyde, who plays guard for Calhoun High Schools says he got into basketball when his number one sport, baseball, was in the off-season.

“I like playing basketball for fun,” he said.

Hyde began playing for CHS his freshman year, before taking a year off from the support.

“I was just trying to work on baseball to get ahead of the competition,” he said.

But Hyde quickly returned to the sport as a way to stay in shape.

“I have to stay in shape for baseball and we practice everyday,” he said. “It keeps me in shape.”

But Hyde is also quick to hit the gym; he works out at Firehouse Gym several days a week.

“Sometimes it is tough to find time after practice, but I manage,” he said.

While Hyde is balancing two sports, his coach Casey Baxter says Hyde still gives the game his all.

“He is a hard nosed kid who is going to give you everything he has night in and night out. He packs the stat sheet and really does a lot of things to make our team better. He is really a ferocious competitor, and I think that separates him from a lot of other guys,” Baxter said.

Hyde averages 14 points per game with 5.2 rebounds and leads the team in charges.

Recently at a game against Adairsville Hyde led the team in scoring with 28 points, five rebounds and two steals.

“It is the job of the guard to score. They are the most athletic person on the court,” he said. “They gotta be quick.”

While Hyde loves basketball, his passion is baseball. In the fall Hyde signed to play baseball for Georgia Tech, where he was awarded a scholarship.

“That was probably the best moment of my life when colleges were looking at me and when I signed,” Hyde said.

While he hasn’t fully decided on a major, he says he is leaning toward Georgia Tech’s famed College of Management which boasts such alumni as John Salley, three time NBA World Champion, and former Naval Secretary William L. Ball.

“I am going to study business management,” he said. “My dad owns a couple of businesses and I want to follow in his footsteps.”

Hyde said his plan is to finish Georgia Tech before even considering going into the Major League draft.

“I think the education will help me is baseball doesn’t work out. I am not prepared to handle the world on my own right now,” he said.

For a player with such phenomenal success in two sports, Hyde has an amazingly clear head on his shoulders something he attributes to his parents Lamar Hyde and Esmi Hyde.

“My parents have don everything for me. My dad has only miss one sporting even in my entire life,” he said.

But for now Hyde is giving basketball his all leaving no regrets behind him as he readies himself for life outside of high school.

“I like being out there with all my friends, and not regretting not playing,” Hyde said.