College Analysis

[farminvt]

As the NHL becomes increasingly saturated in analytics, the effect is going to spread (and already has) to the lower leagues; OHL, WHL, CHL, NCAA, etc.
With that in mind, I'm looking to get a jump on the rest of the world, and start with an NCAA team - UVM.

Unfortunately, no real data set or official NCAA sponsored site keeps track of advanced data, and the school probably doesn't want an independent person to publish advanced analysis on their team and make it available to the public for scouting purposes - I know they don't have game film publicly available for the same reasoning. I'm tracking pass data with Ryan Stimson, and want to do a similar thing with UVM.

Is there a possible workaround for me? Or will I have to work directly with the school?

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[Doctor No]

I think that it's probably going to depend on what you want to track, but my instincts are that you'd need to work with the coaching staff to get the access you need.

Do you have a relationship with the staff at all? An in? Perhaps you could sell it as helping their prospects' draft chances? Probably would help if you had something for your curriculum vitae that would impress the staff.

 

[Siludin]

I assume that publishing advanced statistics on amateur athletes is a bit of a touchy issue. They are amateur for a reason and putting them under the same scope that professionals face might be a bit unfair. Advanced stats can often paint a very unclear picture of a developing prospect facing weaker competition and I believe that big universities would prefer to protect their athletes from this kind of scrutiny.

 

[farminvt]

I think that it's probably going to depend on what you want to track, but my instincts are that you'd need to work with the coaching staff to get the access you need.

Do you have a relationship with the staff at all? An in? Perhaps you could sell it as helping their prospects' draft chances? Probably would help if you had something for your curriculum vitae that would impress the staff.

I don't, at least not yet. I'm thinking I will do some analysis, not publish it publicly, and somehow get it in front of the staff as an opportunity to expand upon. As far as

Advanced stats can often point a very unclear picture of a developing prospect facing weaker competition

I agree, which would lead me to more internal scouting/analysis rather than comparison to competition. Similarly, as there isn't opponent data available, it would be very time consuming to track all info for every other team out there, or even in the conference.

I've always been interested in defense; particularly, d-zone breakouts, and whether chip-outs or controlled passes out of the defensive zone lead to scoring chances.