Josh Hamilton dreams of playing Division I college basketball someday.

The New Iberia Senior High standout took the first step toward fulfilling that dream Tuesday when he signed scholarship papers to play basketball at Enterprise State Community College in Enterprise, Alabama.

“I’m looking forward to playing against better competition every night, pushing myself, making sure that I achieve my dream, which is playing Division I basketball,” Hamilton said. “That’s what I’m looking forward to.”

Hamilton, who followed up a standout senior season on the football field with a similarly outstanding basketball senior season, should play the 2 and 3 spots at Enterprise, NISH head basketball coach Todd Russ said. Hamilton earned first-team Best of the Teche honors from The Daily Iberian in both sports this year.

Hamilton is undecided on a course of study.

Russ said Hamilton was planning to play at Lawson State in Birmingham, Alabama, but when that fell through, Lawson State coach Mike Smith told Russ and his senior that he would be sure to let other coaches know Hamilton was available.

Smith spoke with Enterprise head coach Jeremaine Williams, Russ said, about Hamilton’s ability and why he would be a good fit for Lawson State’s Alabama State Community College rival. Williams reached out to Hamilton and his mother, Gayle Hamilton, and the NISH senior ended up at Enterprise.

“The thing that he does well that Coach Williams is excited about is his ability to shoot the ball and come in and score,” Russ said. “Coach Williams feels like Josh is going to have a chance to play as a freshman next year, which I think Josh is excited about. I definitely was excited about hearing that. They’re looking at bringing him in a letting him play as a guard.”

The NISH coach said Hamilton has improved, including learning to score in different ways this year.

“I think they’re going to get a better player at Enterprise than we had at NISH in the sense that his game is steadily evolving,” Russ said. “Shooting has always been his strong suit but he’s been able to add creating off the bounce a little bit, rebounding and defending bigger, stronger players this year. I think he’s going to be more than a spot-up guy. In high school up until his senior year he was primarily a spot-up guy. This year he was able to put the ball on the floor and score in the post and score in a variety of ways, and I think that’s what he’s going to continue to do throughout his college career.”

Hamilton said Williams told him he was looking for someone who can score and play defense.

“The coach told me that he was looking for a guy that can shoot the ball, a guy who can score, a guy that can just come in and put points on the board, and defend, and rebound,” Hamilton said. “Kind of an all-around player.”

The senior said he worked on his ballhandling over the summer and tried to create more scoring opportunities that way this year.

Hamilton said he wanted to thank his coaches for helping him and his parents and grandmother for their support.