A women's collegiate basketball star player helps her team with OR

Typically, a women's collegiate basketball star player spends much of her time fine-tuning her skills on the court. However, one member of the Kutztown University Women's Basketball Team (the team) decided to contribute both on and off the court. Specifically, she used her analytical skills to develop a mathematical model to optimally assign team members to positions. In this article, we will discuss several mathematical models developed to assign basketball team members to positions based on different assumptions and objectives. Model results using data based on the team will also be discussed. Several scenarios will be presented to illustrate how the coaching staff of a basketball team can make use of these math models to assist with tactical decisions courtside as well as pre-game strategy aids.