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Brittni Donaldson Assistant Coach, Atlanta Hawks Instagram | LinkedIn | X Sitting uniquely at the intersection of basketball, data, and development, Brittni Donaldson is an Assistant Coach for the Atlanta Hawks. Now entering her 8th NBA season, she previously served as an Assistant Coach / Director of Coaching Analytics for the Detroit Pistons and as an Assistant Coach for the Toronto Raptors. Donaldson was the first female coaching hire in franchise history for the Raptors, the Pistons, and the Hawks. She also has experience with the Hamilton Honey Badgers of the Canadian Elite Basketball League, where she served as the Director of Coaching Development. Donaldson holds a Statistics & Actuarial Sciences degree from the University of Northern Iowa, where she played basketball. She began her career at STATS LLC as a SportVU Data Analyst, where she worked extensively with their SportVU player tracking data before landing a Data Analyst role in the Toronto Raptors’ front office. In 2021, Donaldson co-founded Strata Athletics, a startup that brings learning-based, data-driven player development to youth basketball. |
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Ben Buck Coordinator, Pitching, Boston Red Sox LinkedIn | X Ben Buck is a Coordinator of Pitching for the Boston Red Sox. His work centers around Workload Management, Pitch Design, Biomechanics and scaling systems by developing coaches and players. Before joining the Red Sox, Buck spent five years with the New York Yankees in a similar role.  |
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Alex Sarama Director of Player Development, Cleveland Cavaliers Instagram | LinkedIn | X Alex Sarama is the founder of Transforming Basketball. He is widely regarded as an industry-leading practitioner within the field of contemporary skill acquisition and, more specifically, the usage of the constraints-led approach. Sarama's bestselling Amazon book, Transforming Basketball, was released in April 2024. He has delivered clinics in over 40 countries worldwide and worked as a coach developer for numerous organizations and international basketball federations. This includes work done in multiple sports outside of basketball. Alex is currently the Director of Player Development for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA. He previously worked for NBA Europe, based in Madrid and Paris, Basketball in the EuroCup, and the Rip City Remix (the Portland Trail Blazers’ G League Affiliate).  |
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Jamie Smith Founder and Head Sport Preparation Coach, The U of Strength, LLC. Instagram | X Coach Jamie Smith is the founder and head sport preparation coach of The U of Strength, LLC. As a former athlete at Merrimack College, he graduated with a degree in Sports Medicine and a concentration in Exercise Physiology. He has had the opportunity to coach under some of the industry's most knowledgeable and experienced coaches. Jamie has worked with various athletes from the novice to the elite skill levels, some of whom include current NHL, NBA, and MLS players and the 2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Champion UConn Huskies. Jamie’s passion is guiding his athletes through their developmental processes, creating unique learning environments that blend physical preparation with skill acquisition. He firmly believes in training the human before the athlete by utilizing social, emotional, and psychological influences as integral to his program design. He is perhaps best known for bringing the chaotic competitive sports environment into his training facility. When Jamie is not busy assisting his athletes in reaching their full potential on and off the ice, court, and field, he enjoys learning, lifting, and watching the Celtics, Patriots, and UConn Huskies with his daughter Hadley. |
