David “Tripp” Hassell III was born on December 1st, 2005, in Newport News, Virginia. David was given his nickname “Tripp” since his dad’s name is also David. Tripp was born into a family of three, his mom Kristen, his dad David, and his brother Chase. When Tripp was younger, his dad was very interested in sports, which led to Tripp and Chase both playing sports. Tripp grew up playing many sports including baseball, basketball, and football.
During elementary school, Tripp would play baseball, basketball, and football. Tripp would play rec baseball and play during the summer and fall. Tripp would also play basketball and football as well, during the summer he would play football and during the winter he would play basketball. By the end of elementary school, he quit baseball but continued to play basketball and football. When he entered middle school, he couldn’t join any school sports teams due to him being too young, but when he entered his seventh-grade year, he tried out for the James Blair Middle School football team and made it. Additionally, he tried out for the basketball team and made it. He played football and basketball for the rest of his middle school years.
During the end of 8th grade Covid struck, no one knew what this virus was and soon would cancel his whole freshman year of football and basketball, since covid had ruined his freshman year he was looking forward to his sophomore season. Before going into his sophomore year, he transferred from Jamestown High School to Lafayette High School. Tripp was getting ready for his sophomore year of basketball and football; he made Varsity for football and JV for basketball.
In his junior year, he played Varsity football but, injured his back, which hindered what he could do for the rest of the season or even the year. While he also made Varsity for basketball, he couldn’t play since his back wasn’t fully healed. So, he rested and prepared for his final year of high school athletics. The summer before his Senior year, Tripp had worked hard to get back to where he was before his injury, and that he did. Playing for the first time in a year, he was excited to be on the field and was going to prove that if he didn’t get injured, he was going to be a contender. So far, he has been playing extremely well and proving that he is a very talented football player. Today, Tripp is closing in on the end of his senior year of football and is looking to get final offers to play in college.
Looking forward, Tripp is anticipating offers by the end of the football season so he can play college football. With football season coming to an end, he is deciding whether to play basketball or not. Even though Tripp has gone through many obstacles, he has worked hard to overcome them and to become the person he is today.
