Sports Analytics | July 19–July 24, 2026
How Data Informs Preparation and Play
This course provides students with a comprehensive introduction to the rapidly evolving field of sports analytics through practical applications in football and basketball. Students will explore how data-driven decision-making transforms modern sports across three critical areas: in-game decisions, postgame analysis, and self-scouting.
In football, we’ll examine real-time strategic choices like fourth down decisions and situational play calling, analyze postgame metrics including Expected Points Added and opponent tendencies, and investigate how teams use practice statistics for self-evaluation. Basketball applications include studying in-game decisions such as fouling strategies when trailing by three points and optimal substitution patterns, postgame analysis using efficiency ratings and shot quality metrics, and self-scouting through shooting trends and shot selection analysis.
Woven throughout the course, we will introduce statistical tools to conduct your own analysis of players and/or teams. We will emphasize preliminary analysis techniques for studying relationships in sports data, with particular focus on quantifying uncertainty and variability in athletic performance.
Students will develop data visualization skills to communicate analytical insights effectively, and we plan to incorporate Shiny applications that allow dynamic exploration of sports data. This course combines statistical foundations with practical applications using real game data and case studies from professional and collegiate athletics.
Faculty
Claire Kelling, Assistant Professor of Statistics, Carleton College
Claire Kelling is an Assistant Professor of Statistics at Carleton College. She completed her Dual PhD in Statistics and Social Data Analytics at Penn State. Her research engages statistics, sociology, and data science in order to develop statistical methods for complex social science applications.
She has played volleyball for more than two decades and loves following college and professional sports.
Ben Jones, Sports Journalist
Ben Jones is a sports journalist who has covered high school sports and high profile Division I college athletics for nearly two decades. With experience covering the College Football Playoffs, the NCAA Basketball Tournament, state championships and more, his writing has encompassed both the human dynamics and analytical side of sports at every level. When he’s at home, Philadelphia sports have his heart.
Academic Credit
This is a non-credit course, meaning students who complete it will not receive a final grade, earn college credit, or receive a final faculty evaluation.
Want to come to Carleton and earn college credit? Check out our 3-week for-credit programs!
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