We’ve mentioned the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective before. They are the group that tackles problems such as “Who wrote this column: Bill Simmons, Rick Reilly, or Kevin Whitlock?” and “Should a football team give up free touchdowns?”
It’s all fun and games, until the students land jobs with major teams.
According to the Harvard Crimson, sophomore John Ezekowitz and junior Jason Rosenfeld scored gigs with the Phoenix Suns and the Shanghai Sharks, respectively, in part based on their work for HSAC.
It’s perhaps not a huge surprise that the Sharks would be interested in taking advantage of every available statistic. They are owned by Yao Ming, who plays for the Houston Rockets. The Rockets, in turn, employ general manager Daryl Morey who Simmons nicknamed “Dork Elvis” for his ahead of the curve analysis. (See Michael Lewis’ The No Stats All-Star for an example.) But still, it’s very cool to see the pair get an opportunity to change the game.
Pretty soon, these kids are going to rule the sports world. Assuming, of course, they don’t already.