Sports Analysis Intelligence Laboratory

The department is excited about the launch of the UNC Sports Analysis Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL).

History of SAIL

The idea for the Sports Analysis and Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL) was conceived in Fall 2022. Conor Kerr, advised by Dr. Mario Giacomazzo of the STOR Department, had been working on sports analytics projects with UNC Men’s and Women’s Basketball for two years. As the work demand increased, the need to expand increased. From December 2022 to January 2023, the first SAIL applications were received, and 52 well-deserving undergraduates applied to be an Undergraduate Sports Analyst (USA). With the help of Andrew Ackerman, a PhD student in the STOR department, we selected 5 students to be the first team of USAs.

Purpose of SAIL

We firmly believe that sports analytics can be useful in helping athletes and coaches improve performance and gain competitive advantages. We aim to support our university’s athletic programs through application-based research in sports analytics. SAIL’s diverse data science skills can be useful in extracting innovative insights from the data you regularly collect or the data to which you have access. Through private consulting, we ensure that any discoveries from your data, remain between the SAIL team and yours.

Contact Dr. Mario Giacomazzo (mgiacoma@email.unc.edu) or Conor Kerr (ckerr@unc.edu) if interested.

Members of SAIL

Conor Kerr (Founder)

Abigail Mabe

Jacob Thoma

Max Sleek

Andy Ackerman (Graduate Advisor)

Lewis Dubrowski

Sarah Wooster