Division I college basketball coaches will have access to live stats and analytics during game play for the first time during the 2018 Hall of Fame Classic.
Players from the four participating schools—Missouri State, Nebraska, Texas Tech, and USC—will all wear ShotTracker sensors and use a basketball embedded with its own sensor. The use of the system by the schools and by tournament broadcaster ESPN already had been announced, but the NCAA has since granted a waiver to allow real-time access for coaches to the ShotTracker analytics dashboard.
“ShotTracker is proud to drive this next stage of growth in college basketball, and we are excited to take this major step in bringing the extraordinary power of live analytics to the NCAA level,” Davyeon Ross, co-founder and COO of ShotTracker, said in a news release. “The power and applications of this technology will have a significant impact on college basketball.”
Each of the four programs will have an iPad available on the bench for the final four games of the mini-tournament on Nov. 19 and 20 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. A liaison from ShotTracker will sit on the bench to help teams best interpret and utilize the available data. Feedback will be given at the conclusion of the event to the NCAA as the organization evaluates the potential for technology on the bench.
“The NCAA’s approval of ShotTracker technology on the bench at the Hall of Fame Classic is a huge stride forward for the sport of basketball,” said David Stern, NBA Commissioner Emeritus and a ShotTracker investor, in a statement. “For the first time, Division I coaches will have unprecedented access to real-time data and powerful intel via ShotTracker’s app throughout the duration of each game.”
SportTechie Takeaway
The major professional sports tend to follow a progression. First comes permission to use technology during games—but only for access afterwards. Only later do the leagues allow immediate use of the data. We’ve seen this happen, with either wearables or video, in the NBA, the NHL, MLB, and the FIFA World Cup. (The NFL only permits still imagery on the sidelines.) This experiment consolidates those steps, going straight to a system in which teams will be able to collect and use the data during games.
The need for a trained guide is acute. At last month’s SportTechie NEXT conference, Ross discussed the use of ShotTracker at the Jr. NBA World Championship on Fox Sports. He said the system produced a “fire hose” of data and that the broadcast “barely skimmed the surface” of usable metrics. With time and experience, however, coaches will begin to apply a fuller portion of ShotTracker’s potential—and undoubtedly create new, innovative uses.