Gainesville, Florida (July 16th, 2019) – PlaySight’s Smart AI and connected camera basketball technology is coming to the Florida Gators Men’s and Women’s Basketball programs this offseason. Florida is set to become the latest NCAA basketball program to add a SmartCourt to their practice facility, joining the likes of Wake Forest University, the University of Nevada-Reno, the University of Oklahoma and the University of North Carolina.
We talked with Scott Schmelzer, the Director of Scouting and Video Operations for Florida Women’s Basketball, to learn more about the program’s decision to add PlaySight technology.
Why did your program decide to invest in PlaySight?
Schmelzer: We wanted to invest in PlaySight because automated, IP cameras are the future of sport, especially college athletics. Throughout the process we found that PlaySight provides an excellent product that is continuously being developed to provide cutting edge options for our basketball program that will help in on court performance, film review, and recruiting.
What role does video play for your team?
Schmelzer: Video is used on a daily basis with our players and with our coaching staff, and thanks to Playsight’s Sportscode integration, we can use all of the PlaySight platforms along with our Hudl platforms to maximize our resources and push even more film out to our student athletes and to give our coaching staff even more options when breaking down and analyzing film. We use film in every way to improve our basketball performance.
Before PlaySight, how did the team typically capture/record practice video?
Schmelzer: We captured film from a digital camcorder through a traditional black magic setup into Sportscode on our laptop. In our case, our practice gym has tight wall constraints, so our camera was set up from a corner angle, which was not ideal. Now, with PlaySight cameras we will have traditional center court angles.
What other technologies does your team use to get a performance edge?
Schmelzer: We constantly use the technology provided to us through our filming setup to stay on the cutting edge and that’s why PlaySight will make it that much easier for us.