Best Fit Sports Data may sound like a company name with many employees, but it is really just one person - Ben DeMouth. When you contact Best Fit Sports Data, you can be sure that you are getting through to the person who is working on your project.
I reside in Des Moines, IA with my dog, Stanzi. I moved here in 2021 after graduating from Northern Iowa with a degree in Sports Public Relations. I spent most of my time in college working at Radio on the Go, broadcasting on KLMJ and KQCR in North Central Iowa.
I hadn't expected to leave the radio industry, but a job offer that was too good to turn down presented itself upon graduation. I took that job and worked doing financial services for semi-truck drivers for a few years. When that company was sold, I began working as a fiber optic splicer before eventually starting Best Fit Sports Data.
I played basketball on the AAU circuit growing up, travelling around the country playing for the Iowa Battlers. I was set to play college basketball, before breaking my leg during the summer between my junior and senior years of high school. That may have ended my playing career, but it had a transformative effect on the way I look at basketball. Since I couldn't play anymore, I began trying to help my coaches while I was on the bench. This developed my understanding of the finer points of basketball, and ignited a passion for basketball data.
When not working on school or trying to build Best Fit Sports Data, I'm very involved in community service in Des Moines. I volunteer once a week at Powell CDC, and help people early in recovery with trying to find housing and employment. I also love to take my dog out for hikes and working out in my garden growing vegetables.
Best Fit Sports Data was started in the spring of 2024. I had been working as a fiber optic splicer for a while, and the work had run out; I was to be without work for about 4 months. During that time off, I began looking at other jobs to see if I could find something new that would get me working ASAP.
During my job search, I realized that many employers wanted someone that could work with software as well as splice fiber. So, I decided to go back to school do get a degree in Computer Languages. I will graduate in the Spring with that degree and certifications in Data Science, Python App Development, C# App Development, Java App Development, and SQL Development.
I'm the type of person who, even though they are going to start taking classes, wants to start learning the skills before starting the classes. So, I began reading up on how to code and how to work with data in one of my favorite topics: basketball. One of my high school teachers had taken a job as an assistant coach at Northwest Missouri State, and I decided to work with some data from his team. I had been a student at Northwest for three years (before graduating from Northern Iowa), so it worked out perfectly.
He ended up leaving for a different job, but I still had loads of data on the conference, so I began reaching out to other coaches in the conference. I got a few meetings, and they liked the information that I had. As I was still out of work, I began to run with the idea of doing this as a full-time gig.
Since then, the project has taken on a life of it's own. I hope to find more coaches to work with and eventually make this a full time job. I love college basketball, and it's always been a dream of mine to work in sports. I hope to add you to the list of teams I can work with.
During my time doing Best Fit Sports Data, I have had the opportunity to work with a number of coaches, teams, and organizations from around the country.
At the collegiate level, I have worked with coaches from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association and the American Rivers Conference.
At the high school level, I have worked with coaches from Iowa, Indiana, and Alabama. No matter the location of the team, I am always looking to bring good data to a team that is looking to improve.
I've also worked with the Alabama Association of Basketball Coaches, working with them to develop a new ratings system for high school basketball in the state. This ratings system aims to give a better picture of a team's performance through strength of record adjustments.
A special thanks is due to the good people at the 94x50 Podcast for helping to give me a platform to reach more people around the country.