The nature of the position has changed since he started, but Jeff Coney still loves his job as official scorekeeper

It’s Tuesday, game day for Wildcat basketball, and Northwestern’s Director of Economic Development leaves his office for the confines of Welsh-Ryan Arena. He arrives before the students, when the court and bleachers still sit empty, and immediately gets to work, pouring over the book and calling over officials.

Jeff Coney has held many jobs. He’s started his own software company, presided over a multi-million dollar financing agency and now consults for startups revolutionizing heart disease treatments and childhood HIV diagnosis. But on game day, Coney heads for the post he’s held for 44 consecutive seasons: Northwestern basketball official scorekeeper.

The accomplished entrepreneur has returned every year to Welsh-Ryan Arena, four decades after graduating. He has the same drive that paints students’ chests purple, the same drive that puts alumni in the stands night after night.

“I bleed purple, man,” Coney said. “Two degrees, met my wife here, second generation. It’s about being purple.”

Though routine after 44 years, scorekeeping is nearly as complex as the Princeton offense with so many moving parts and the constant need for quick thinking. Coney coordinates with referees before the game even starts, and once the buzzer sounds, his eyes can't stop moving.

“It’s just really about trying to pay attention to alternating possessions, that the score’s right, fouls, timeouts, those things, making good eye contact with the officials,” he said.

Coney’s career began as a student manager during the 1971 season, the lowest point of coach Brad Snyder’s tenure. Two years after reaching a No. 12 ranking in the AP Poll, the Wildcats went 5-18, then combined for a 14-35 record during Coney’s junior and senior year.

But Coney has seen the highs as well, rare as they have been. His highest moment was in 1979, when a 5-12 Northwestern squad stunned Magic Johnson’s 1979 Michigan State championship-winning team.

“We beat ‘em by about 22 points, it was never a game,” Coney recalled. (The real margin was 18, an 83-65 victory.)

College sports have changed since then. Basketball’s changed. When Coney began, March Madness wasn’t a national phenomenon. The NCAA tournament had 25 teams and many games weren’t televised. But TV has changed everything. The game has gotten faster, too, forcing him to "get a little more help" for what was once an independent job.

So what does the man who witnessed almost the entire evolution of modern college and Wildcat basketball see when he looks upon coach Chris Collins and his crop of freshmen?

“The best is yet to come,” Coney said.