Feb. 27, 2004

The Nova Notebook is a weekly in-season feature written by Villanova director of media relations Mike Sheridan. This week the Notebook goes behind the scenes with team administrative intern Jason Crafton.

The affinity Jason Crafton feels for Villanova can be traced back at least a decade.

Crafton recalls watching intently as the 'Cats captured the 1994 National Invitation Tournament and through the run of success the program enjoyed in the mid-1990s. A native of Long Island, Crafton began attending the Villanova Basketball camps in the summer as well.

One day in his sophomore year of high school, a friend mentioned that her uncle worked as a basketball coach at Villanova. Crafton wasn't sure he believed her but not long after he held in his hand a business card belonging to then Wildcat assistant coach Joe Jones. Crafton called Jones and the two struck up a friendship.

"Coach Jones really became a mentor to me," he says.

Although he desperately wanted to attend Villanova and walk-on to the basketball team, economics dictated that he accept the scholarship offer made by Nyack College in Rockland County, N.Y. Crafton was a three year starter for the Purple Pride but, in part because of his relationship with Jones, Villanova was never far from his thoughts.

Following graduation last spring, Crafton knew where he wanted to work. He just wasn't sure if there would be a position available.

"I just wanted to be at Villanova," he says.

Crafton, who had become acquainted with head coach Jay Wright and the rest of the Villanova coaching staff over the years, interviewed for several post-graduate internships in the athletic department. In the end, Wright was able to offer him a new internship within the basketball office that would oversee administrative and video duties.

"It's worked out so well," he says.

While he was long on energy and enthusiasm, Crafton was inexperienced in the area where the staff would lean most heavily upon him: video editing.

"The only real video work I had done was a highlight tape I had put together of myself back in high school to send to colleges," he states.

A new computer based system favored by National Basketball Association franchises was delivered shortly after Crafton's arrival. It allows the staff to do its video editing on laptops and eliminates the need to cut and splice off a VCR. Crafton absorbed the nuances of editing on this machine as quickly as he could.

"In the beginning, I was able to get my assignments done," he says, "but it took me some time. But once I got to December, I felt much more comfortable with it."

Film has been an essential ingredient in game preparation for college teams since the late 1960s. However, the explosion of televised college basketball games in the 1980s altered the dynamic. More footage than ever was now available to coaches and most took full advantage.

When the NCAA ruled that coaches could no longer scout opponents in person in the early 1990s, video became the absolute king. Every Division I staff in the country now relies on satellite television and what is known in the business as film exchange.

Those contests that are televised nationally, regionally and locally are taped on a basketball office VCR. A vast closet stores the hundreds of tapes of Big East and other opponents.

The issue becomes more delicate when a game is not broadcast on television. Every college team tapes its own games. Those videos are then frequently exchanged with another squad that shares an opponent with Villanova. That may sound simple enough, but it often isn't.

"We try to have all of the film exchange requests for the upcoming year out by the second week of October," Crafton says. "Having (basketball secretary) Mary Anne Gabuzda around is a huge help. She has been through this before and handles all the paperwork.

"No matter how organized you try to be, though, there are always going to be situations where you need to get a tape in a hurry. It happens to all of us in this position. So I really concentrate on following through when we get a request. Relationships are important in this business and I know there are going to be times when I'm in a tight spot for a tape and am relying on someone else's professionalism."

Once the season began, Crafton's work began in earnest. It is not uncommon to find him in the staff video room in the Pavilion for hours at a time.

A recent trip to Syracuse was typical. Following the game at the Carrier Dome, Villanova student manager Keith Jones retrieved a copy of the videotape from the ESPN truck. On the charter flight back to Philadelphia, Wright watched most of that night's game. Since the flight lasted less than an hour, Wright watched the balance of the contest at home.

"I like to watch the game film that night," Wright says. "I usually don't get finished until 1:30 a.m. or so. Once I'm done watching, I call Jason and leave him a message about the edits I want to see in the morning. When I get into the office that morning, he has everything I asked for ready to go."

The routine can vary depending on whether the contest was played at home or on the road. Sometimes Crafton will simply stay up and complete his work before attempting to grab a couple of hours of sleep. In other instances he will retire for a bit and then check his messages before beginning the editing.

Crafton and the overnight custodians of the Pavilion are on a first-name basis.

The coaching staff makes use of a variety of scouting tapes. Edits are often created for individual players to illustrate a point. There are also edits made to be viewed by the entire team. Other clips highlight achievement in Villanova's Attitude Club, the points system used by the staff to evaluate the effort areas.

"Jay is very creative with the stuff he does and I know our players appreciate it," says Wright. "He puts things to music and really helps get our guys excited about going out to practice or play.

"The other thing that strikes me about Jason is how basketball savvy he is. I might mention a specific pick and roll I want to see and he has a great feel for what I am talking about."

Crafton remains close with Jones, now the head coach at Columbia. And he also leans heavily on the experience of staff members Wright, Fred Hill, Brett Gunning, Ed Pinckney, and Billy Lange, who handled the video work in Wright's first two seasons at Villanova.

"I've learned a lot from Coach Wright and all of the coaches," he says. "This whole year has gone so fast. I feel like I know my responsibilities now and can really have fun with this. It's been a great experience and it's so cool for me to be doing this at Villanova."