Jepson student Michael Walz, ’26, sits down with Jepson Leadership Forum speaker Dean Oliver prior to his Jepson Leadership Forum presentation "The Push for Data-Driven Decisions in Sports."

Oliver, currently a data scientist at ESPN, pioneered the basketball analytics movement and is the author of "Basketball on Paper" and "Basketball Beyond Paper." He incorporated analytics in his roles in the NBA front offices and as an assistant coach and helped create ESPN’s sports analytics group in 2011.

Take 5 is a series of informal interviews with the scholars and experts who present as part of the lecture series. Nov. 17, 2025