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Blue Devil of the Week: Caring for Cameron Indoor Stadium

William Harris is responsible for keeping the iconic space clean

William Harris is a utility worker in University Environmental Services at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
William Harris is a utility worker in University Environmental Services at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“Before I came to Duke, I was in the Navy. The military taught me attention to detail. The job you do reflects on you and no one else.

I pay really close attention to the scuffmarks left on the court by a player’s shoes. My secret for getting those off is a tennis ball on the end of a mop stick. I’ll walk the court in a grid pattern to pick up big, dark scuffs. It’s a little elbow grease and a little bit of an alcohol solution called Super Shine-All.

On press row, where the Cameron Crazies stand directly behind press, they’ll have flakes of body paint fall off or there will be grass dragged in from outside. I’ll always make sure to clean up all those little things because I take pride in my job. I want the first impression of visiting teams and fans that see the presentation of the court to know it’s taken care of and in tip-top shape.

I like the behind-the-scenes nature of what we do. The average person doesn’t recognize the utter chaos that can go on, but it’s worth it when someone comes in to watch a game and it’s the greatest experience of their life.

I used to watch Jabari Parker come in here every single night to work on his game. All these players put the time and effort into becoming better. It inspires me to see them have that work ethic. You can always get better. You can always work on your craft.”

William Harris
Utility worker, University Environmental Services at Cameron Indoor Stadium
13 years at Duke

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