As the Cameron Crazies waited for the Duke men's basketball team to take the court against Florida State, a state-of-the-art scoreboard flashed highlights from the history of Duke basketball.
The crowd erupted in cheers as photos and video appeared overhead showing clips of the last 100 years of Duke basketball -- from black and white pictures of head coach Wilbur Wade Card's basketball teams of the early 1900s, to current senior guard Greg Paulus shouting to rile up a crowd.
While the new scoreboard in Cameron Indoor Stadium helped ignite fans during basketball games this season, it's the man behind the board that makes Cameron's fans go a little crazier: Brad Jones, manager of video services for Duke Athletics.
"You just try to play on fans' emotions, but it's easy for Duke basketball because it's something people hold very dear to their hearts," Jones said.
Jones, 33, came to Duke last summer to help lead multimedia production for the scoreboards for Wallace Wade Stadium and Cameron Indoor Stadium. On game days, Jones creates highlight reels and graphics that co-workers say have enhanced the atmosphere of attending football and basketball games at Duke.
"In a very short amount of time, he's become a very valuable member of our team," said Jon Jackson, director of Sports Information. "Because he's got such a long background in live production, he has a natural feel for when highlights or graphics should be used during games and in videos."
Brad Jones helps lead multimedia productions for Cameron games. Photo by Bryan Roth
Whether it's editing together highlights for the Duke sports website, GoDuke.com, or getting video footage ready to display on the scoreboard at Cameron, Jones said he works about 14 hours on basketball game days.
During games, he works out of an editing room next to Coach K Court in Cameron, where he'll put together highlight reels that are shown during the game on the new 15-feet-tall by 14-feet-wide scoreboard. Jones uses video feeds from courtside cameras to splice together video for in-game use. His work day usually begins around 9:30 a.m. and ends about two hours after the game that night, when he's compiled sound bytes and edited together highlights for GoDuke.com.
"My biggest challenge is just trying to figure out how to get the crowd into it during games," Jones said. "I don't think about the pressure of it because it's what I've always been used to."
Before coming to Duke, Jones was a globe-trotting "one-man-band," producing, directing and editing video segments for motorsports channel SpeedTV from London, Zimbabwe and Italy, while calling Atlanta home. He also once worked with the Web strategy firm Mind Over Media, which produces online content for Duke basketball.
Jones said one of the attractions of working at Duke was that staying in one place would allow him to spend more time in Durham with his wife, Tara, and their two children. The history of Duke's athletic programs and its people were enticing draws as well, he adds.
"The thing I've liked the most is here, you deal with student-athletes and they're really neat people and great kids," Jones said. "I'll see basketball players around campus and they always say ‘hi' because there's no elitist feeling at all.
"When you're dealing with pro athletes, they're bombarded with media all the time and get asked the same questions over and over again. It's refreshing to deal with athletes who are grateful you're doing something for them."
And those who take the court at Cameron are grateful for the new aspects that Jones brings to their games.
Joanne P. McCallie, head women's basketball coach, said the new board accents and heightens Cameron's atmosphere, thanks to Jones' efforts.
"There are so many fun things you can do with those big boards," McCallie said, noting the graphics and highlights that run during basketball games. "The Cameron Crazies love it."