Meet Cade Hampton, the new Ball State and high school sports reporter for the Star Press

Hello, Star Press readers and the community of Muncie!

It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Cade Hampton, and I am very excited to introduce myself as the new Ball State football and high school sports reporter for the Muncie Star Press , part of the USA Today Network.

I am a native of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, which is about 30 minutes east of Nashville. I was born and raised there by two University of Alabama alumni. Growing up in a Crimson Tide family deep in Tennessee Vols country created a ferocious sports fandom inside me. I quickly fell in love with football and basketball despite severely lacking the athletic skill necessary to participate.

My first venture into sports media was during my senior year at Mt. Juliet High School. That year, I served as the play-by-play announcer for our school news program’s football game livestreams. After one of these games, I filled in for an ill sportswriter by writing a postgame article for a local newspaper. I didn't think for a second that I would one day be doing exactly that for my first full-time job.

After graduating from high school amidst COVID-19 lockdowns, I followed in my parents’ footsteps to the University of Alabama. There, I covered Alabama gymnastics and baseball as an intern with The Tuscaloosa News . During this internship, I also covered local high school sports, men’s and women’s basketball, legendary coach Nick Saban’s retirement, the Birmingham Stallions of the United Football League, and Major League Baseball at Birmingham’s historic Rickwood Field.

I fell in love with the job immediately. Connecting with student-athletes, coaches, and fans - learning their stories and telling them - was everything I hoped it would be. I knew quickly that this was what I wanted to do with my life. So here I am in Muncie, a Southern kid learning his way in the Midwest.

A little more about me: when I’m not writing, I love to collect and listen to vinyl records. I have a collection of over 150 albums that I would describe as a cosmic gumbo of genres and artists. Some of my favorite artists include Eagles, Kendrick Lamar, Death Grips, David Bowie, Phoebe Bridgers, Jimmy Buffett, and my personal favorite, Father John Misty. My other hobbies include binge-watching TV shows (“Mad Men,” “Bojack Horseman” and “The Sopranos” are my all-time favorites) and playing fantasy football.

My goal is to provide the people of Muncie with high-quality coverage and detailed analysis of the teams and athletes they love. Even more so, I look forward to telling quality feature stories that go beyond scores and statistics, highlighting the people who represent those teams.

With all of that being said, please never hesitate to reach out to me with story ideas, questions, restaurant recommendations (this Southern boy needs some good BBQ in his life), or just to say hello.

I aim to be as accessible as possible in this position and look forward to connecting with the people of Muncie. I’m incredibly excited to get started and tell your stories!

Contact Cade Hampton via email at cbhampton@muncie.gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CadeHamp10.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Meet Cade Hampton, the new Ball State and high school sports reporter for the Star Press