My Passion Project: Helping Basketball Players Tell Better Stories with Data

Just pen and paper.

After going to a basketball tournament, I was shocked to see that stat tracking still hasn’t been digitized in the 21st century. People still rely on old-fashioned pen and paper to keep track of players’ stats.

On top of that, scorekeepers at most AAU tournaments and high school games only require keeping two stats, points and fouls.

Any player, coach, scout, or fan will tell you: There’s so much more nuance to the game of basketball that isn’t captured at these tournaments and high school games.

I regularly see posts on Facebook, IG, and Twitter about a player scoring 18 points in an AAU game. At the surface level, that seems fantastic… but it doesn’t tell the whole picture.

What if you found out that the player scored 18 points against the stingiest defensive team at the tournament? That she shot 20% better than any other player who played against that team?

Doesn’t that tell a more complete and compelling story?

Doesn’t that help scouts pay attention to the right players?

I think it does because we all know a player that should have gotten a D1 scholarship — but didn’t. So I believe with technology that provides more transparency and insight for high school/AAU games, no deserving player will accidently go unnoticed or slip through the cracks.

I’m excited to combine my expertise in mobile development, product management, and venture capital with my experience in basketball to tell stronger stories with data that empower players.

I’ll be building this in public and will be sharing my progress — hoping to encourage dialogue around entrepreneurship (and keep me accountable) along the way.