Analytics and Video Technology Helped Cincinnati’s Justin Jackson Improve His Game

The power of analytics doesn’t lie in its ability to help the group perform better. It lies in its ability to help the individual improve his performance, which subsequently helps the team succeed more often.

This notion of personalized learning is all the rage in education, and a similar parallel is playing out in college basketball. For University of Cincinnati Bearcats forward Justin Jackson, having access to analytics and game footage made all the difference in his performance. Jackson and the Cincinnati coaching staff shared their story in a video by CDW and Sporting News Media.

The video, part of a series of clips from CDW’s March Madness campaign and available for viewing on its What Is the 7th Man site, highlights how technology is changing the game of basketball.

“We took film from every game last year, because last year really wasn't a good year for me,” Jackson said.

By analyzing the video and quickly and efficiently filtering all of Jackson’s activities into various edits that consolidated all of his shots or all of his fouls, the coaching staff was able to effectively troubleshoot the player’s weaknesses.

“I think analytics and video really made it a seamless process and it really helped,” said head coach Mick Cronin.

Although watching game footage isn’t anything new in team sports, the ability to drill down quickly and distribute the footage anytime, anywhere is.

“Nowadays we can send an edit to a player, to his smartphone. You know, ‘Drop-in guys, here's your shots from last night' or 'Here's your fouls from last night,'” Cronin said.

The improvements that the Cincinnati staff put in place clearly helped. Jackson was recently named to the 2014 American Athletic Conference All-Conference Second Team, according to a report from Cincinnati.com.

To learn more about how technology improved Justin Jackson’s game, watch the video below.