Jared Fleming has long had an eye for numbers.
He graduated from The University of Texas at Dallas in 2009 with a BS in Business Administration from the Naveen Jindal School of Management and then earned an MS in Finance, also from the Jindal School, the following year. Those fields of study came in handy — including for basketball. While Fleming was a student, when he wasn’t assessing standard deviations, he was trying to deviate from the opposing defense as a member of the Comets men’s basketball team.
The Comets went to the quarterfinals of the ASC Tournament during Fleming’s freshman and sophomore years. During his junior year, they advanced to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Division III Tournament and went to the Sweet 16 his senior year. He served as an assistant on the Comets’ coaching staff from 2015 until this July, when he was named the Comets’ head men’s basketball coach. His inaugural season at the helm coincides with the school’s transition to Division II of the NCAA where they join the Lone Star Conference as a full member.
“It’s a great time for this program and I’m proud to be a part of it,” he said. “The data analytics field has grown in basketball. Even look at the emergence of something basic like true field-goal percentage — taking into account the player who shoots way more three-pointers than another. It’s a terrific moment for merging data and strategy.”
Fleming is using the knowledge he learned from his Probability and Statistics for Management and Economics (STAT 3360) course for everything from offensive plays to his own selection of lineups. But Fleming was also taught to remember the people behind the numbers. Organizational Behavior (OBHR 3310) was among the favorite courses he took.
“I utilize how we were instructed to run organizations,” he said. “We were taught how management and work structures could flow well from top to bottom. Ownership will be a big part of this team — we want to give our players ownership of the program. It’s from on the court to the weight room, a group system where we take a few players every year and have them lead. They can help others through rough stretches that can come during the season and keep it moving forward. It’s beneficial in so many ways to have this kind of stake in things as a player.”
And Fleming knows that in basketball, like in business, efficiency is a key.
“What I experienced on that Elite 8 team was we had zero all-conference players but look what we did as a group,” he said. “You see businesses all the time succeed by making the most of what they have. It’s about what you do with your talent, not just the talent itself.”
John Barden, associate dean in the Executive Education Area at the Jindal School, is a huge Comets basketball supporter. Along with being a former college basketball player himself, he has had the Men’s Team over to his house multiple times over the years and remembers Fleming as a player with the distinctive qualities to be this kind of leader.
“He always seemed to think a little deeper and had that feeling and passion for the game and also for UT Dallas,” he said. “He will gain a great amount from his head coach experience and so will UT Dallas and the Jindal School.”
