Zack Swayne found a unique enjoyment his Advanced Placement (AP) statistics high school course. His parents observed that this could be something to explore for a college major. Zack’s research led him to one of the oldest statistics departments in the country at Iowa State University.
Swayne knew he found the right fit when taking additional statistics courses, “I think they're fun and they're not too difficult.” This was in contrast to peers who found statistics one of their more challenging courses.
While enjoying statistics, Swayne also discovered the data science major. He was drawn to it because of the similarities to statistics and computer science (which he had considered as a college major). Swayne graduated in Spring 2025 with a double major in statistics and data science.
While at Iowa State, Swayne was involved in the University Honors Program. Distinguished Professor and Department Chair Dan Nettleton was Swayne’s Capstone Project advisor. Swayne wanted to do something focused on sports analytics, and Nettleton had the idea of analyzing basketball fouls in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).
The pair defined their project question as, “Was there a way to model the amount of time between fouls for basketball players?” Determining the answer to this question could help coaches plan their players’ playing time.
While performing research, Swayne learned how vast the options were in using and applying statistics, including new modeling techniques. The project’s conclusion was that coaches may be a little too conservative when benching players. It is likely that players can make it to the end of the game without running out of fouls.
Swayne also notes learning from additional faculty:
- University Professor Emeritus Derrick Rollins, where Swayne worked with the undergraduate research program to clean data sets.
- Professor, Data Science Program Director, and Director of Statistical Consulting Jarad Niemi’s sports analytics class was one of Swayne’s favorite courses. He learned a variety of models that can be applied to sports.
When taking courses, Swayne discovered that most courses had a link to statistics. He encourages current students to explore other interests and electives to discover new connections.
Swayne put his coursework to use as an intern at Fabick Cat, where he now works as a business analyst. Within his project-based position, he uses his data science skills for data cleaning, data visualization, Power BI, and Excel.
Swayne identified his most beneficial part of college was learning how to learn; he learned new coding languages and programs in coursework. This skill was implemented in his current role as he learned to use Power BI for the first time.
In addition to coursework, Swayne was involved in the Sports Analytics club and served as a intramural referee and supervisor. His favorite memory is beating Kansas State to reach ten football wins for the first time.