LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) – It’s not unusual for high school students to get a jump start on their careers. That’s the case for one young sports announcer at Sulphur High School who’s become a regular on the microphone.

Mason DePriest says his inspiration came from simply enjoying the game, “All my life, just growing up, I’ve been in love with sports, just watching football, watching basketball, baseball, and hearing the guys in the background like Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and all those kind of guys. You know, just hearing them and like, wow, they got a pretty easy and fun job. I would love to do that.”

DePriest got his start at 14 years old when he volunteered to announce Sulphur High’s Varsity baseball games.

“I asked Coach Connor Lloyd if I could bring a headset one day and, you know, just do play-by-play of the game because, you know, the video quality wasn’t the best. And you don’t really have sound in the background to hear what’s going on.”

By DePriet’s junior year, Don Martin with Tornado Radio Network brought him on as a play-by-play announcer for football, basketball, and baseball games.

Martin says, “Mason has done a great job. I know football, but I don’t know the players like he knows the players and the coaches. So, he’s been able just to kind of bring a fresh perspective and a younger perspective.”

DePriest usually spends anywhere from two to ten hours a week preparing for a game.

He says, “This Monday I’ve been doing all my research, got all my notes together, have everything together, player names, player stats, rosters, coaches, interviews, player interviews. It’s a grind doing this. It’s really a grind. And there’s really no days off when it comes to this.”

But DePriest doesn’t just announce sports, he plays them as well. Recently, he actually got so busy with his announcing gig that he had to make a choice.

“It was the hardest decision of my life because it was either play football and baseball, my high school career and not know if I’m ever going to get a chance at broadcasting again or, you know, do what I love.”

In the end, Mason made the decision to leave the sports teams to pursue his dreams of becoming an ESPN broadcaster.

“To all the people that want to be in the broadcasting industry already, you know, just keep grinding and never stop and never say no to opportunity.”

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