Wizards hire Evans, 1st woman to run an NBA team's analytics

Evans would oversee its research department, supporting the Wizards, the WNBA's Washington Mystics, the G League's Capital City Go-Go and Wizards District Gaming.

Evans previously was director of strategic research for the Toronto Raptors. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

Katherine Evans is joining the Washington Wizards as the first woman to head the research or analytics department of an NBA franchise.

Monumental Basketball announced the hire on Friday, saying Evans would oversee its research department, supporting the Wizards, the WNBA's Washington Mystics, the G League's Capital City Go-Go and Wizards District Gaming. Her new title is vice president of research and information systems.

“Dr. Evans is an exceptional talent with a true passion for the game of basketball and is widely respected within the league and academic circles,” said Sashi Brown, Monumental Basketball's chief planning and operations officer. “She brings innovative approaches and perspectives and will be a great leader of our research department, which is charged with identifying competitive advantages for all of our athletes and our athlete care and performance team.”

Evans previously was director of strategic research for the Toronto Raptors. She oversaw data sources to build a draft prospects database and helped analyse methods and build models for player evaluation and on-court strategy.

“I am looking forward to contributing to all the Monumental Basketball teams and to helping expand their analytics capabilities,” Evans said.

Evans has a doctorate in biostatistics from Harvard. She spent two years as a data scientist with Verily Life Sciences.