CALIFORNIA BEARS
As the Director of Player Development and Analytics, I led analytics and supported player development, while running the video department for Cal Women's Basketball. The role covered everything from individual player plans to team-wide reporting, with full responsibility for video operations, NCAA compliance, and the department budget. Below are examples of what that work looked like.
ON THE COME UP
1-16 → 11-13
Coming off a 1-16 season, the program improved to an 11-13 finish in 2021-22, a 10-win swing year-over-year and the most wins under Head Coach Charmin Smith at that time. Guard Jayda Curry was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and led the league in scoring with 18.7 points per game.
TOOLS THAT WORK
As the program's first-ever Director of Player Development, I had the chance to shape what the role looked like for CAL Women’s Basketball, building the analytics, video, and player development systems from the ground up. Every tool was built with the same philosophy: make it simple, make it digestible, and make it practical. When analytics makes the game feel clearer, not more complicated, that's when we know we're doing our job well.
-
Built individualized reports for every player on the roster, combining analytics and film to support growth throughout the season. Each plan was tailored to the player's role, strengths, and development priorities, then revisited and adjusted where needed as the year progressed.
-
Interactive tools that tied analytics directly to game film, giving players and coaches a visual way to engage with shot selection, shot quality, and efficiency. Players could see their performance over time and connect the numbers to specific plays in real game context.
-
Ongoing analysis of the program's offensive sets, identifying tendencies, efficiency, and opportunities for adjustment. The work supported game prep and in-season strategic decisions, helping the staff understand what was working and what wasn’t.
-
End-of-season analysis covering the program's pick and roll execution, including usage patterns, efficiency, and trends across the season. The breakdown gave the staff a comprehensive view to inform offensive planning for the following year.
SEASON REPORTSIndividual Reports
A comprehensive post-season analysis for every player on the roster, built to support offseason development. Each report blends performance data, situational analysis, and more, written in language coaches and players can use. The work was about more than numbers, it was about giving players a clear understanding of where they were, what to focus on, and how to keep growing.
Player Combos
Each report shows how player combinations performed, with the context coaches need to make informed decisions about rotations, matchups, and roles. The findings go beyond what the box score tells you, layering in lineup data, on/off splits, and situational performance to give the staff a full picture. The goal isn't to tell coaches who to play; it's to be a resource they can lean on, sharpen their questions, and make the job a little easier.
FROM THE VIDEO ROOMRunning the video room covered the full scope of film for the program: practice and game breakdowns, live-cutting games, building scout edits, and managing equipment and storage. Beyond the day-to-day, I built a Standard Operating Procedure for the department that gave the coaching staff a clear playbook for video workflows, helping them operate with more autonomy.
Numbers tell part of the story, film tells the rest. The integration is where the magic happens, and what moved the needle for us during the 2021-22 season.
A few tools came out of this approach: Playcall analysis was a season-long project, breaking down every offensive set we ran to track tendencies, efficiencies, and what adjustments could give us an edge. But the standout piece was a report that tied shot charts and efficiency data directly to game film. Not only could players see the numbers connected to their performance, they could see the clips that went with it. The report became a regular part of player development meetings and position-group film sessions, where the conversations could move between data and tape without missing a beat.
Eliza Pierre | Assistant Coach, California