ShotTracker is a locally owned and developed technology that was created by two dads, Davyeon Ross and Bruce Ianni. One day, Bruce was playing basketball with his son and had a great idea. That's when he called Davyeon, and it's been a wild ride since.
The goal is for ShotTracker to be the FitBit of basketball. Here's how it works.
"We have tech in the ball. We have a tag or sensor that actually goes on the player and we have sensors in the rafters. We can actually track the ball and player in 3 dimensions. From shot charts to turnovers, assists, shot attempts, makes and misses. We're able to track all that data in real time," Ross said.
It takes stats from pencil and paper to the digital age.
"So as a coach I know how my team is performing. I know if we go down the right side we're 0 for 5. If we go down the left side we're 4 for 5. It helps in my decision-making process," Ross explained.
Peep the white tags on their shoes. We're court side with @getshottracker at the @NAIA_News championship! @41actionnews #PlayNAIA pic.twitter.com/abncQA3Om7
— Dia Wall (@DiaWall) March 22, 2017
It also helps players track their performance too.
"I know when I catch and shoot I'm 6 for 10. If I take 1 dribble I'm 47 percent. If I take 2 dribbles I'm 22 percent. We can get down to that level of data," Ross added.
The NAIA Tournament is the first tournament ShotTracker has been used in. NAIA President and CEO Jim Carr said, "It's really revolutionizing basketball. It's giving schools like those in the NAIA a chance to get real-time analytics and stats without really any human interaction."
The science has to be exact. Oftentimes, the numbers can come down to measurements of only centimeters. Tags and sensors also had to be extremely lightweight and imperceptible.
Ross told 41 Action News, "Our algorithms have to be smart enough that if you catch the ball and you shoot with it, I need to know you have it."
ShotTracker's list of partners is too long to name. It seems though that after nearly 4 years, their technology is on the map worldwide and the company is poised to be a game-changer on the hardwood.
Ross said, "I try not to think about that too much because I get way too excited when I think about that but we want to get to the point where we change the game of basketball."
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Dia Wall can be reached at dia.wall@kshb.com.
