From my buddy Don, comes this article on Tom Izzo’s student managers who slice video, track stats and never sleep. The part of this story that has interested me before is the blending of stat-tracking and coaching. The trend is for stats to translate to basketball.

“It’s probably the worst abuse of Microsoft Excel ever,” said Kevin Pauga, a 27-year-old former manager who is now Michigan State’s director of basketball operations. “We want to know everything. We sort the data and stats, and that helps us make crucial decisions. Our job is to help solve problems before they even start. You can be prepared.”