Statsketball 2019: Congratulations to our Winners!
April 22, 2019
In the 2019 Statsketball contest, students competed to predict the outcomes of both the 2019 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments using the power of statistics – the science of learning from data. This is the first year Statsketball has expanded to the women’s tournament, and in total, 367 student teams entered—our largest Statsketball to date!
The two contests included the “Pick ‘Em”: Upset Challenge to predict the winners of the first-round games and the “Build Your Own Bracket”: Draft Challenge to select a cohort of teams from seeded participants to earn the most overall points. Learn more about the challenges here.
Congratulations To Our Winners!
“Pick ‘Em”: Upset Challenge – Women’s Tournament
- High School: Harry Swales, Cole Dutherage, Seun Lagbenro, Pruitt Spritzer, Los Bambas, Strake Jesuit College Prep, Houston, TX
- Honorable Mention: Joshua Guo, Ali Jalal, Ashwin Morales, Justin Varkey, Adsit’s Army, Strake Jesuit College Prep, Houston, TX
- Honorable Mention: Michael Hansen, Nick Ferazzi, Mark Mahoney, Matt Castenada, Yay!, Strake Jesuit College Prep, Houston, TX
- Undergraduate: Jason Thompson and Graham Pash, Sports Analytics @ NC State, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
- Honorable Mention: Brad Benson, Barry Bee Benson, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI
- Honorable Mention: Scott Gill and Brandon Sucher, One Shining Moment, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT
“Pick ‘Em”: Upset Challenge – Men’s Tournament
- High School: Bobby Daigle, Janise Liang, Allison Lam, JAB, Valley Christian High School, San Jose, CA
- Honorable Mention: Mia Galat and Anna Zdunczyk, Mia and Anna’s Dream Team, Andover High School, Andover, MA
- Honorable Mention: Ryan McFaden, Franklin Regional High School, Murrysville, PA
- Undergraduate: Eric Thiel, Team Canada, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan
- Honorable Mention: Tanner Brotherson, Zachary Burridge, Taylor Field, BYU Sports Analytics 1, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT
- Honorable Mention: Alex Ewald, Tyson E. Hart, Evan Jasper, Max Karpinske, St. Olaf Sports Analytics, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN
“Build Your Own Bracket”: Draft Challenge – Women’s Tournament
- High School: Helen Meissner and Alicia Stepin, XXX, The Bear Creek School, Redmond, WA
- Honorable Mention: Yessica Roldan and Taylor Trantham, Blue Team, Newberg High School, Newberg, OR
- Honorable Mention: Lucky Motwani and Lekhya Sathi, The Ls, Andover High School, Andover, MA
- Undergraduate: Scott Gill and Brandon Sucher, One Shining Moment, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT
- Honorable Mention: Govind Menon, Inazuma, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
- Honorable Mention: Jason Thompson and Graham Pash, Sports Analytics @ NC State, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
“Build Your Own Bracket”: Draft Challenge – Men’s Tournament
- High School: Julia Frisco and Emily Tamulewicz, Julia and Emily, Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School, Brecksville, OH
- Honorable Mention: Frank Qian, Insyte, Andover High School, Andover, MA
- Honorable Mention: Lily Steiger and Aurora Thomas, Squares, Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School, Brecksville, OH
- Undergraduate: Scott Gill and Brandon Sucher, One Shining Moment, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT
- Honorable Mention: Alex Kelleher, Number 8.1, Butler University, Indianapolis, IN
- Honorable Mention: Brad Benson, Sparty Party (BB), Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI
“This year’s winners demonstrated a mastery of statistical thinking and analysis,” said ASA Executive Director Ron Wasserstein. “As sports analytics continues to grow, we imagine they may have a bright future in the field—or any of the innumerable careers statistics-savvy students can pursue. We are encouraged by the increased interest in Statsketball and look forward to engaging students in more creative ways to use statistics.”Thanks to all who participated and took time to make their entries creative and original. Your statistics skills will lead you to great things!
Want to be ready for next year’s Statsketball and other contests? Join our email list.
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