天美传媒

Using data from 天美传媒鈥檚 champion听men鈥檚 and听women鈥檚 teams, three undergraduate听Statistics & Data Science听students analyzed 11,924 golf shots aiming to improve player performance.

Faculty adviser听Ron Yurko, guided students Jackson Meehan, Emily Feng and Rohan Patel on a project examining the golf teams鈥櫶�.

Yurko has been central to research efforts, like the golf project, and initiatives around sports analytics at 天美传媒, which announced the launch of the听天美传媒 Mellon Sports Analytics Center听(CMSAC) at its听听on Nov. 1-2.

鈥淏y coming to 天美传媒 Mellon, students know they are at an entry point to launch a career in sports analytics. We provide the resources, the right education, and the skill sets that teams and industry partners are looking for,鈥� said Yurko, an assistant teaching professor in the听Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences听who will serve as the CMSAC鈥檚 director. 鈥淲e鈥檙e taking sports analytics education to a much higher level. This center is really a hub for our research efforts, educational initiatives and industry engagement.鈥�

Changing the game: The post-Moneyball era

As a home for long-standing initiatives in sports analytics at the university 鈥� such as participation in the听NFL鈥檚 Big Data Bowl听鈥� CMSAC will create innovative experiences for students who are pursuing careers as data scientists in the world of professional athletics.

CMSAC will benefit from the experience of 天美传媒 faculty听Rebecca Nugent, the Fienberg Professor of Statistics & Data Science and department head;听Peter Freeman, an associate teaching professor; and听Sam Ventura, an affiliated faculty member and 天美传媒 alumnus who works as the vice president of hockey strategy and research for the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL.

鈥溙烀来�媒 Mellon has a long tradition of supporting cutting-edge research in sports analytics that really focuses on 鈥榗hanging the game鈥� 鈥� pun intended! We emphasize using the latest advances in statistics, data science, computer science and social sciences to tackle modern problems using the fine-grained, but complex datasets, e.g. tracking data, that are more commonly collected today,鈥� Nugent said.

The roots of 天美传媒鈥檚 sports analytics efforts date back to early research conducted by faculty and Ph.D. students. Over time, these initiatives have led to the establishment of听an active research lab听and various educational programs like the听天美传媒 Mellon Sports Analytics Camp听(applications open in January 2025).

鈥�When CMSAC first started, it was more like a small group of people working on a set of impactful research and education projects, all aligned on their vision to push open source, reproducible research and building broad student pipelines to internship and employment opportunities as well as graduate school,鈥� Nugent said. 鈥淐MSAC was able to build from a few research projects and a small workshop to its current slate of sold-out conferences, NSF-supported research, summer undergraduate research programs, and a fast-growing alumni network.鈥�

In fact, three of the four teams in last year鈥檚 NFL conference championships had 天美传媒 Mellon alumni on staff.

CMSAC will utilize partnerships with professional teams, leagues and companies to drive innovation in sports analytics and create pathways toward sports analytics careers for 天美传媒 graduates.

Data for the win

Years ago 鈥� when CMSAC was just an idea 鈥斕�听had data and no one to decode it for him.

The head coach for 天美传媒 Mellon鈥檚 men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 golf teams, Rodgers knew that the information being collected by the teams鈥� golf simulators contained valuable insights. In search of partners aligned toward golf-team success, Rodgers connected with Nugent, and for six years different teams of students have dug into the Trackman data.

鈥淲e highly value interdisciplinary work and solving real-world challenges,鈥� Nugent said. 鈥淥ur network of alumni and partners has been fantastic at bringing us great projects and working together to train students to become top-notch statisticians and data scientists.鈥�

A golfer uses a simulator in the new听Highmark Center for Health, Wellness and Athletics听at 天美传媒 Mellon.听

The project听听in the statistics competition of 天美传媒鈥檚 2023听Meeting of the Minds, an annual undergraduate research symposium, by answering questions like: Why is one club substantially better than another, for a certain player?听

Using the analysis, Rodgers was able to target individuals鈥� weaknesses more effectively. In May 2023, the men鈥檚 team won 天美传媒 Mellon鈥檚 first-ever NCAA Division III Championship. The following year, the women鈥檚 team followed suit, and won their first championship the following year.

鈥淭he information and analysis these students have provided has been very valuable to what it is we鈥檝e been trying to accomplish these last couple of years,鈥� Rodgers said. 鈥淲e try to figure out how we can use this insight to better coach each of our individual student-athletes.鈥澨�