Norman, Okla. ? Lawrence High boys basketball coach Chris Davis had an unusual view of Sunday’s Kansas University-Oklahoma basketball game.
Davis was watching from the CBS graphics truck outside the Lloyd Noble Center, where he was working in front of a computer monitor to help explain the nuances of coaching strategy during Sunday’s nationally televised KU-OU game.
“I just started doing this a few weeks ago,” Davis said. “This is the first time I’ve done it live.”
During the first commercial timeout, CBS analyst Billy Packer explained how the Jayhawks flood one side of the court in order to free Kirk Hinrich on the other side to shoot a three-pointer.
That computer-generated explanation of coach Roy Williams’ set play was in the can. Other graphics inserts during the KU-OU game were done by Davis on the fly.
Davis and CBS go back to the mid-1990s, when Davis owned a company called Coaches Edge that specialized in instructional videos with moving dots showing how players revolved around the floor on set plays and defenses.
Davis supplied that technology to CBS for four seasons. Then the network dropped it, and, in 1999, Davis sold his company to Sports Vision Inc. In 2000, he became LHS basketball coach.
As of now, according to Davis, CBS will use his computer-generated innovations during the last two weeks of the regular season and in the Big 10 Conference tournament.
“Beyond that, I’m not sure what will happen,” Davis said, “but I’m hopeful they’ll use it during the NCAA Tournament.”
