Student jobs at the Dean E. Smith Center

Thousands of Carolina students poured into the Dean E. Smith Center for the men’s basketball game against Pittsburgh last month. They showed up and did their job: loudly cheering on the Tar Heels to a dramatic 67-66 victory.

But some of their peers actually reported for work.

Meet four UNC-Chapel Hill students who clocked in when the Tar Heels took the court.

The first person you encounter when entering the Smith Center is the person scanning your ticket. For those at Gate B, that might be Olivia Stone.

Stone, a senior, worked the game with her club volleyball teammates to raise money for the team. “Nationals for volleyball is in Phoenix, Arizona, which is the big cost,” she says.

Stone’s been scanning tickets for three years now, usually working three games a year. She encounters all sorts of fans: Young children being introduced to Tar Heel basketball. Old timers whose fandom spans decades. Fanatics with Carolina Blue paint covering every inch of their face.

While Stone doesn’t get to see the action on the court, she can definitely hear it.

“Last year, I think it was Cormac Ryan hitting a three in a really crucial time, and the whole arena just erupted,” she says. “I turned around and was so confused about what happened. But just being able to hear the excitement was so cool.”

Now that you made it inside, you might want something to eat. If you’re in the mood for pizza, you could run into Kasual Marley at the Gate A Domino’s stand.

Marley has been working concessions at men’s basketball games (and nearly every other Tar Heel sporting event) each of her four years at Carolina. A family friend told her about the job, and she thought working game days sounded intriguing. “The atmosphere is always fun,” she says.

The convenience of an on-campus job and the chance to “do work that doesn’t feel like work” keep her around.

Marley has become friends with co-workers and enjoys seeing the familiar faces of ushers and arena support staff. She recognizes certain fans from years of experience and gets a kick out of serving her friends.

Marley tries to work as many games as she can but still shows up as a fan from time to time. “It’s so funny when I see my co-workers because they’re like, ‘You’re not working today?’ I’m like, ‘No, I’m just watching!” she says with a laugh.

You’ve made it to your seat just as starting lineups are announced.

As the Tar Heels and Panthers get ready to tip off, athletics department intern Ben Mihailovich sits courtside at the scorer’s table with his headset on.

How’d he get this sweet seat? As a member of the live stats crew, the junior is one of four employees intently watching every second of the 40-minute game and tracking every made or missed shot, rebound, assist, block, steal, foul and any other statistic you can think of.

The stats you see displayed on the Smith Center’s video boards and on your phone’s ESPN app start with Mihailovich and the rest of the crew.

“Once the ball is tipped and once you start calling, I’m very locked in,” Mihailovich says.

He’s responsible for rapidly tracking everything he sees on the far end of the court to his right. Another person quickly inputs the data into a live tracking system on a computer.

“Being able to sit courtside at a UNC basketball game, considering the history of the program, how many people are here, the quality of the matchups … it’s not going to get much better,” he says.

After the Tar Heels close out the win with a defensive stop, you and other fans head toward the exits.

But Shelby Swanson’s work is just getting started. The senior is reporting on the game for The News & Observer and preparing to interview Tar Heel players her same age and coach Hubert Davis.

Swanson, the former Daily Tar Heel sports editor, interned for the Raleigh paper last summer and has since continued her coverage of area sports. As a first-year, a trip to Arizona to cover the women’s basketball team in the postseason was “the moment that solidified” journalism for her.

She likes to arrive to the arena about 90 minutes early. She’s already done homework on the matchup by that point but likes to chat with fellow reporters and team staff.

From press seating, Swanson takes notes on key moments, looking for turning points within the game and important storylines.

When talking with sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau after the win, she asks questions about topics that plenty are interested in (what practice was like this week) and others that might fly under the radar, like the significance of Cadeau’s linked fingers after forcing a Pittsburgh miss at the buzzer. “It means locked up,” he explains.

Swanson says she aims to “provide something different” to readers. After interviews, she puts her deadline writing skills to use and tells the story of the Tar Heel win while making a Looney Tunes reference.

By then, a day’s work for Swanson and other student employees is complete.