Terrence Hamilton is almost all the way back.

Catawba’s rising senior, who suffered a horrific broken leg in a loss at Wingate last year, is playing again.

He hit the court for the first time since the injury a couple of weeks ago during Catawba’s team camp.

“I’m not hurt, just sore,” Hamilton said while watching the recent East-West All-Star Game in the Greensboro Coliseum. “I’ll be ready by the time the season starts.”

Catawba rebounded after Hamilton’s injury to have one of its best seasons ever under Jim Baker, finishing 25-5 and making the Division II national tournament. The Indians return most of their firepower and Hamilton’s return makes them that much stronger.

“It’s not a physical thing,” Hamilton said, glancing at the lump on his leg. “It’s more mental. Ifeel like I have another month to go before I’m where I want to be.”

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MOOSE IS LOOSE: East Rowan’s Mark “Moose” Misenheimer will play football at Averett College in Danville, Va., next season.

Misenheimer was set to attend UNC Charlotte and leave his athletic career behind, but while visiting Averett with buddy Taylor Weber, who’s going to play basketball at the D-III school this fall, Misenheimer ran into the Averett football coach.

“I started telling him a little bit about myself,” said Misenheimer, who played football, basketball and baseball for the Mustangs. “Then he asked me what I thought about coming to play for him.”

Averett is expensive — about $19,000 a year, Misenheimer said — but Moose earned tons of academic scholarships at East that will help defray costs.

Now, there are two members of the Misenheimer household playing college sports, as Moose’s sister, Brooke, plays point guard for the Pfeiffer basketball team.

Moose played defense for the Mustangs last season, but says Averett sees him as a tight end. That’s fine with Misenheimer, who is 6-1, 200 pounds and hopes to bulk up to at least 215..

“Tight end is where my heart and soul is,” said Misenheimer. “I was a tight end all my life until last season.”

Last season, Misenheimer didn’t a whole lot of choice. Coach Tom Eanes’ new hambone offense didn’t employ a tight end.

Misenheimer will room with Weber. That makes at least two Mustang duos heading off to college, since Raymondo Brady and Adam Cornelius, two of the leaders on the South Rowan Legion team’s recent run, plan to room together at UNC.

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HIGHER AND HIGHER:West Rowan football coach Scott Young reports that rising senior Kendall High, 6-foot-5, 250-pound defensive lineman, has been offered a scholarship by the University of South Carolina.

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MIGHTY MATTERS: East Rowan wrestlers Jeremy Teague and Hunter Land have been selected to the all-state team by Mat News.

Teague placed second in 3A last spring at 152 pounds. He’s headed to N.C. State University and will wrestle for the Wolfpack.

Land, who placed second in 3A at 160, is a rising senior and still has another year to wrestle for coach Barry Justus.

Land and teammate T.J. Long will be part of Team North Carolina when it takes part in the Freestyle, Greco-Roman Championships in North Dakota.

Land will wrestle at 178, while Long will weigh in at 165.

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GAINING ON IT: It wasn’t a great year for UNC Charlotte tennis which finished 12th in its conference tournament, but it was a good year for former A.L. Brown star Bailey Gainey, who won more than her share of matches while playing No. 4 singles and No. 2 doubles for the 49ers.

Gainey is one of the spotlight athletes on the UNC Charlotte athletics web site, where she reveals that she wants to be a TV anchorperson and that her nickname is “BGon Fire.”

UNC Charlotte is bringing in three heralded recruits for next year and the 49ers have six returning players. That means the team will be a lot better, but also means Bailey will have to work hard to stay in that top six.

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EAGLE LANDS: Former South Rowan High baseball star Larry Ballard, Rowan player of the year in 1996, graduated this spring from Carson-Newman.

Ballard played a lot for the Eagles this past season and hit two homers in one game against Lincoln Memorial.

Ballard hopes to go into the banking industry. He plans to stay in the Rowan-Cabarrus area and is already involved in coaching youth baseball.

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COMEBACK: Former South softball and basketball player Cassie Siege has transferred from UNC Greensboro to Pembroke State and plans to play softball this season for the Braves, who compete in the Peach Belt Conference.