Project Title: A Dive Into Sports Analytics

Essential Question: How can mathematical modeling and statistical analysis serve as a framework for better understanding the world around us?

Statement of Purpose: For my senior project, I will continue to grow as an analyst and learn new skills surrounding data to better understand the world around me, with the end goal being to improve lives with my new understanding.

How Will You Measure Success?

I think success in this project will be easy to see but near-impossible to actually quantify. I will be having a number of assignments, researching and reading articles, reviewing tape, and receiving feedback on my work. I believe with all these aspects of my project set up, I will certainly improve my abilities as a data analyst, especially in the context of sports. Though I don’t think I will be able to put a number on my success, I think there are benchmarks I could hit that could indicate success, from receiving positive feedback on my written pieces to conversations with Jacqueline (my cohort leader) on new things I’ve learned.

Resource List

I have connected with Jason Dizik, who is the head of broadcasting for the Detroit Pistons at Fox Sports Detroit, who I know will be a great resource. I have also signed up for the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, which includes speakers like Nate Silver, Andrew Yang, Sue Bird, Mark Cuban, J.J. Watt, Jordan Palmer, Daryl Morey, and others. I’ll almost constantly be reviewing game tape, looking for tendencies or patterns that I can then explore deeper with data.

Daily Plan and Schedule

My daily plan is pretty standard most days. It is generally going to be wake up, work on my report, and then be done for the day. The work I do, however, will vary greatly based on where I am in my report. Some days, this will be coding models in R or Python to visualize the data. Other days, this will be a day of writing or reviewing game tape or researching other people’s work to better my own. I also have some events sprinkled in to vary the work I am doing, like the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. I am also hoping to continue with the LREI Math Team and Baseball team (plus maybe the tennis team).

Documentation Plan

I think this documentation process works perfectly for my project. I don’t need anything fancy, I just need a space to write and document my work and reflections. Why mess with something that is working? I also have a lot of experience with the blog with all my work on honors projects so it makes sense for me to continue working on this platform. I imagine that my documentation will be uploaded once or twice a week, which is about the frequency I will be receiving new assignments at from Fox Sports Detroit.

Material(s) Needed

N/A

Backup Plan

If ever my internship/project falls through, I have a model that I began working on for an honors project that is probably years away from being completed that I can work on. I have connections in the sports analytics world I can use to potentially reach out and get feedback from or have conversations with.