Blake Behrens did not always know he wanted to study statistics. Everything changed during his senior year of high school when one class sparked a new passion.
“In high school, I was uncertain as to what I wanted my major to be until senior year when I took AP statistics,” he said. “I found the idea of modeling and predicting real events that we encounter to be fascinating.”
Now a Statistics major at Iowa State University with minors in Data Science and Applied AI, Behrens has found joy in both the flexibility of the field and the doors it has opened. His coursework has introduced him to a variety of modeling approaches, and he’s applied those skills in both academic and professional settings.
He’s also actively engaged in research, supported by the Ronald J. and S. Doré Mead Fund for Student Experience in Statistics. That support allowed Behrens to pursue two sports-focused projects. His first project used linear regression to predict outcomes of high school football games based on team strength. His current project is focused on NBA playoff games, where he is using machine learning to generate live win probabilities.
“I am using Random Forest models to estimate live win probabilities for NBA games,” he said. “This alone has been very interesting to view, especially with such unpredictable NBA playoff games this year. These probabilities will then be used to measure how different players and lineups impact the overall win probability to find value in players or lineups.”
Outside the classroom, Behrens has also found time for extracurricular involvement with the Iowa State Swim Club. During this past year, he served as assistant coach, helping lead the team. In March, he traveled to Arizona for the national meet, where he placed sixth overall in the 100-yard breaststroke.
He’s also been building career experience as a summer intern at CRST, a trucking company based in Cedar Rapids. The internship has allowed him to apply his statistics background in a business context, focusing on reporting and data analysis that supports company decision-making.
“My statistics background has definitely helped me throughout my work so far,” he said. “One of my primary duties is to form reports based on data that the company collects. I feel like my experience has helped me ask questions that may not have been asked before and present information in more understandable ways.”
Behrens plans to graduate in December 2026. After that, he’s considering graduate school, with an eye toward a career in sports analytics.