It was in basketball, however, that Ciraldo most notably left his mark. As Tech basketball reached national prominence in the mid-80's under Bobby Cremins, Ciraldo – splitting play-by-play and analyst duties with Brad Nessler – came to the attention of a new generation of sports fans in the southeast. Ciraldo popularized a term that Nessler coined – "Thriller Dome" – to describe the Tech's home court, Alexander Memorial Coliseum, which was the site of many close games in Tech's early ACC years. He died in 1997 in Atlanta.