Mike Chason selected for VSU Athletic Hall of Fame

VALDOSTA – Longtime sports broadcaster Mike Chason was inducted into the Valdosta State University Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2022 on Saturday.

Other honorees included Cedric Jones, Candice Ferrell Bryant, Edmund Kugbila, Raphaelle Durante, Courtney Albritton Carter and Thomas Macera.

“Every day is a great day to be alive, but some days are greater than others, and this is one of those days,” Chason said in his acceptance speech.  “Calling basketball and football games on the radio and television for Valdosta State has always been a ‘get to’ job rather than a ‘have to’ job for me.

“When I sit down at the press table before a game, it’s a lot like life.  You just never know what’s going to happen on the court in front of you.”

A 1974 Valdosta State graduate, Chason has been the play-by-play voice for VSU basketball since 1990.   He was also the play-by-play voice for Blazer football from 1992 through 1997. 

“My son, David, was running cross country for Tift County High School, and I was missing every one of his Saturday meets,” Chason said.  “I decided to give up football and concentrate on VSU basketball after the 1997 season.” 

Chason has broadcast hundreds of VSU games all over the United States from Texas to North Dakota to Tennessee.  Memories abound but several games stand out.

“Climbing the ladder to cut down a piece of the net after Coach Mike Helfer’s Blazers won their first conference tournament in 2021 will always be special,” Chason said.  “When former VSU All-America player Carley Kuhns was coaching the Lady Blazers and beat West Florida in overtime in 2017 for the championship was also a wonderful moment.

“I was on the air when Coach Hal Mumme and the Blazers won their first conference football championship in 1996 and when VSU played in its first Elite Eight in the birthplace of basketball in Springfield, Mass., in 2010.  Great days.”

Chason still calls the home basketball games for VSU.  In fact, he had two games on the air Saturday afternoon after the induction ceremony when the Lady Blazers and Blazers swept Mississippi College.

A member of the 1970 graduating class at Lanier County High School, Chason becomes the second member of that class to be inducted into the VSU Athletic Hall of Fame.  VSU All-America baseball player Gene Felts was inducted in 1998.

Today, Chason serves as Director of Public Relations Emeritus at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and runs his own company, Chason Enterprises, LLC.  He and his wife, Kris, split their time between Tifton and Saint Simons Island.