ShotTracker

ShotTracker was built to answer the question every basketball coach asks but could never precisely quantify: where exactly are my players shooting from, and how efficient are they from each spot on the floor? Founded in 2014 in Kansas City by Bruce Ianni, the company developed a sensor-based tracking system that captures every shot attempt — its location, whether it was made or missed, and what type of shot it was — in real time with no manual input required.

The ShotTracker system uses a three-part sensor network: sensors worn on players' wrists, a sensor embedded in the basketball, and anchors installed around the court. This triangulated network captures shot data, player positioning, ball movement, and game statistics automatically. Coaches can see real-time shot charts during practice or games, analyze shooting patterns over time, and make data-driven decisions about player development and game strategy.

The NCAA adopted ShotTracker for multiple Division I conferences, bringing automated shot-tracking to hundreds of college basketball programs that could never have afforded dedicated analytics staff. This adoption validated the concept that granular, automated basketball analytics should not be reserved for NBA teams with million-dollar technology budgets — they should be available at every competitive level.

ShotTracker's approach to basketball analytics represents a different philosophy from optical tracking systems like Second Spectrum. Rather than using cameras to track everything on the court, ShotTracker uses sensors to track specific events with high precision. This sensor-first approach makes the system more affordable and easier to install, which is why it has gained traction at the collegiate level where budget constraints are real. They proved that meaningful basketball analytics do not require an NBA-sized investment.