Daughtry Tabbed Director of Strategy

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – University of Tennessee head men's basketball coach Rick Barnes announced Monday the hiring of Scott Daughtry as the program's director of strategy.

Daughtry has been a part of the Tennessee basketball program as a student, both as an undergraduate and while in graduate school, for the past four years and will now step into a newly created position.

"Our entire staff is excited to welcome Scott into a full-time role. No matter his task over the last four seasons, Scott has attacked it with passion and excelled," Barnes said. "There is no doubt he will continue to do just that as he takes on this new job, one that he is well-suited to shine in. Scott is a strong example of a young man coming to college and using the chances he was given to find a position doing what he loves upon graduation."

Daughtry first joined the Volunteers as an undergraduate manager in April 2021. He was promoted to head manager in April 2022 and served in that role through December 2023, at which time he earned his degree and stayed on as a graduate assistant.

As a graduate assistant the past 17-plus months, Daughtry spearheaded the further development of the program's analytical structure by handling its database. He created and managed the team's analytics sites and web apps, as well as produced basketball performance analytics reports for the use of the coaching staff. Additionally, Daughtry aided director of sports performance Garrett Medenwald.

In his new role, Daughtry will have numerous duties related to roster management, on which he will work closely with director of player personnel/recruiting coordinator Lucas Campbell. He will continue to develop statistical models to predict player success and value, as well as monitor databases, deliver recruiting information to the coaching staff and organize qualitative evaluations. Daughtry will also generate performance analytics, player development analysis and analytical game strategy evaluations for the current team.

"I'm grateful to coach Barnes for giving me this incredible opportunity. It has been an honor to learn from him and the rest of the staff over the past four years," Daughtry said. "I am thrilled to continue to grow here at a place that means so much to me. I will do everything I can to help further elevate the Tennessee basketball program, as we continue to lead the way in the new world of college athletics."

Over the course of his tenure with Tennessee thus far, the Volunteers turned in the best four-year stretch in program history, amassing a 109-36 (.752) record and two SEC titles (2022 tournament, 2024 regular season). The team reached the NCAA Tournament each year, thrice advancing to the second weekend and twice playing in the Elite Eight.

Daughtry served as a basketball analytics intern for the Indiana Pacers during the summer of 2023, assisting with responsibilities related to the NBA Draft, free agency and NBA Summer League. He gained experience in calculating NBA player comparisons for collegians using nearest-neighbor calculations from BD Box Composition trees. Daughtry also manufactured a model to predict a college player's defensive skill level in the NBA using automated machine learning predictive modeling methods.

During the summer of 2022, Daughtry was a Summer League Experience intern for the Atlanta Hawks. He created a model that utilized revenue statistics to predict attendance and net profit at College Park Skyhawks' games. In the spring of 2021, Daughtry worked as a student intern in Tennessee's strategic communications office, producing written content for UTsports.com and editing statistical sheets in Adobe InDesign.

The Anderson, S.C., native earned an undergraduate degree in business analytics from Tennessee in December 2023. He is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Business Analytics / MBA dual program at Tennessee, with an anticipated graduation in May 2026.

University of Tennessee Athletics

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