Throughout the Midwest, a twinkling piano tune greets basketball fans every week to announce a thunderous dunk, all-access footage of a pivotal game or a personal moment that evokes tears.

It’s the indelible theme music for the Big Ten Network’s “The Journey 2013,” a documentary program that goes behind the scenes of one of college basketball’s best conferences to serially mine the stories and storylines that unfold during the Big Ten season.

After conference play closed Sunday with Indiana’s thrilling victory over Michigan to secure the outright Big Ten title, “The Journey” aired its Senior Day episode, which featured three of Illinois’ seniors: Tyler Griffey, Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson.

The episode, which re-airs Tuesday and Wednesday at 11 p.m. on BTN, runs a gamut of emotions as the various Big Ten seniors come to terms with the end of their college careers.

“We find with this episode, in interviewing the kids, is that they understand the finality of it,” said Bill Friedman, coordinating producer at Big Ten Network Original Productions. “This is it. This is the last time they’re going to play at Assembly Hall.”

When the final buzzer sounds during Illinois’ victory over Nebraska, the cameras film revealing footage of Paul, who crouches near center court with his jersey covering his face, and Richardson, who ducks his head for five seconds to let the moment sink in before doing a radio interview.

“It was an emotional time for these guys, and I think sometimes that gets lost on the fan,” Friedman said. “We really love telling those stories in the Senior Day episode.”

It wasn’t the first time “The Journey” swung through Champaign to profile an Illini basketball player this season. Four weeks earlier, Richardson received sole attention in a story on the Peoria pipeline of players to the Illinois program — a pipeline that ends with no apparent heir to Richardson once his career ends in the spring.

Richardson said that he’s only watched “The Journey” a few times in his career — once his sophomore year in an episode about former teammate Demetri McCamey and the earlier episode this season on him — but appreciates the exposure the show allows for fans.

Notorious for being the first one at shootaround hoisting up shots, Griffey said that no one beats him out to the court except the cameramen for “The Journey,” and that one of his first offseason tasks is catching up on all the episodes he DVR’d during the season.

But Paul is the one who has seen the most coverage in his career, including his 43-point explosion against Ohio State in his junior year while “The Journey” cameras were rolling.

“Everywhere I go, there’s always a fan that’s like, ‘I saw you on The Journey’ and stuff like that,” Paul said. “It’s always really cool to hear that.”

Friedman said that the structure of the four-year athletic career of college basketball players provides fans with a chance to grow with each player as they would with the characters in any cable television show.

Though these Illinois seniors are departing, Friedman already has the visualization for a segment in a future episode. His cameras have been pointed to the sideline more than once this year, and a compilation of Illinois head coach John Groce’s sideline theatrics could be one of their most promising yet.

Thomas can be reached at [email protected] and @ThomasBruch.