In a chorus of cheers, squeaks of sneakers and percussion from the Foghorn band, there’s another layer to the soundtrack of the Smith Center.

The bassline of “Seven Nation Army,” the stomps and claps of “We Will Rock You” and the high-energy rap of Kendrick Lamar’s “Squabble Up” stir up crowds of Revolutionaries and inject energy into players and fans at men’s and women’s basketball games. Dior Toney, better known as DJ Dior, is the man behind the game-time playlists and has been a GW staple for over 20 years, from his time on the court to serving as the Smith Center’s in-house DJ.

“Ultimately, we’re all the team,” Toney said. “Me, the team, the band. Everybody creates the same experience, we’re just trying to get a W.”

Before he started mixing tracks, Toney was a walk-on guard on the men’s basketball team from 2002 to 2006. In his senior year, the team went 27-3 overall, including 16-0 in Atlantic 10 play and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to the JJ Redick-led Duke Blue Devils. The Revs’ team included two future NBA players — forward Mike Hall and forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu.

Despite getting little playing time on the court, Toney said he made his presence known as a source of energy on the bench and a boon to team chemistry.

“I was part of one of the big teams here,” Toney said. “I was a walk-on, but all the top players were all my best friends, so I was pretty much the glue guy, no matter what.”

A few years after graduating with a degree in fine arts, Toney was DJing at clubs around the city, like the now-closed McFadden’s, and reached out to his former teammate Chris Monroe, who was then a marketing official for the GW athletics department and helped him secure a gig as the Smith Center DJ. At first, he started playing music at volleyball games pro bono but soon realized that his talents could help out the basketball teams, too, by providing the high energy that he felt was lacking.

He said after working in nightlife postgrad, he was told by other DJs that he had what it takes to spin tracks for a living. Growing up in a singing family and playing the snare drum, Toney said he was surrounded by music from a young age, which he said equipped him for a profession dropping beats.

“[The DJs] dumped their music on my computer and were kind of just like ‘Here, go,’” Toney said. “I didn’t really realize that I had all of the same things until later in the DJing, just realizing that certain stuff, I was always doing it as a kid.”

In the decade since taking the reins as GW Athletics’ premiere DJ, Toney’s control of the Smith Center atmosphere has been a key catalyst for the electric game-day environment. After initially relying on player song suggestions, Toney says now he relies on his ability to “read the crowd” in choosing his tunes.

“I just see what I can do to get energy out of people,” he said. “It’s just a talent that I’ve developed, being like, ‘Oh, they might like this song,’ or ‘they like this song’ because I’ve been in so many different environments that I can kind of read personalities.”

Toney said he freestyles all of his song selections based on what the Smith Center environment calls for or what keeps certain players in the zone. He said he queues up “TikTok songs” for men’s basketball redshirt sophomore forward Darren Buchanan Jr., who he said likes to dance to the tracks to stay in the zone.

Toney said he switches up the type of music depending on whether the men’s or women’s team is on the court. He said he plays more “fun” music for women’s games because he says they are “more open with their emotions” compared to the men’s team, whom he tries to keep more “locked in.”

Men’s games are usually backed by a soundtrack of hip-hop or rock like “I Wanna Rock,” and women’s games typically lean more toward pop, like Paul Russell’s “Best of My Love”-sampling “Lil Boo Thang.”

When he’s not manning the Smith Center’s sound system, Dior is crafting sets at different clubs or bars around D.C., and he said he sometimes meets athletes from opposing teams, like Catholic University, who recognize him from Smith Center games.

“They’ll come and dap me up before the games,” he said. “So it’s kind of that thing where everybody knows where my loyalties lie, but it’s just an awkward moment sometimes. I don’t want them to think I’m shaking hands with the enemy before the game.”

Toney said he works hard to maintain an atmosphere that maintains the teams’ intensity and provides a fun environment for fans.

“We want to create a home court advantage,” Toney said. “So I just like to be different than other gyms and try to stay connected and communicating with the teams to see what stuff they like and what stuff helps them.”