By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
In her college days at William & Mary, where she was a sociology major and lock-down defender on the women's basketball team, Nyla Pollard '21 essentially formed the origin of a business plan. There were more questions than answers, but the general idea was taking shape.
Now, Pollard is set to officially launch her own startup in early 2025.
Ballin AI is a sports tech company that offers artificial intelligence-powered tools to help basketball players and coaches improve what they do.
Pollard, the founder and CEO, currently has a staff of 13. That includes former Tribe players Bianca Boggs and
Dani McTeer.
"I remember reflecting on my own recruiting process and thinking, 'Oh, this could be better,'" said Pollard, a four-year starting guard for the Tribe. "But I didn't really start working on it until November of 2022, and we formally incorporated our company in 2023.
"Really, it came from having that firsthand experience as an athlete. My initial idea was to focus on the recruiting process and how to make that better for coaches and players. Then, when we dove into customer discovery and market research, we really landed on the right solution for right now."
Ballin AI automates the analysis of game film for coaches and players at all levels. Customers will upload their game film to the company's platform, and Ballin's software will generate reports with enhanced analysis according to their needs.
For coaches, this can be used for recruiting, player analysis and scouting opponents. For players, it can improve their game and exposure to recruiters and scouts.
"Because we are an AI-powered platform, it allows us to deliver with unprecedented speed," Pollard said. "When you think about it, we're adding automation to processes that were formally manual and laborious."
The significance of Ballin AI being a female-run company in a male-dominated arena isn't lost on Pollard.
"If you look at the landscape of sports software technology, women still represent a small percentage of sports tech founders and leaders," she said. "So to be building something so innovative, so in demand, and for it to be a Black woman-owned company is really meaningful."
Last month, Pollard was invited back to her alma mater to speak with student-athletes about their careers after college. Titled "Athlete to Entrepreneur," the session was more conversational than simply a speech. But there was one point Pollard specifically wanted to make.
"In my experience as a student athlete, we would have post-graduate conversations, the presented options were always Corporate America, grad school or playing overseas," she said. "Entrepreneurship was never discussed as a viable career path. I never even thought about actually doing that.
"Athletes have such a unique yet untapped perspective in the world of sports innovation. Former athlete founders do exist, but I think there should be more because no one knows the space like we do. Even after we started Ballin, I got the question so many times: 'Why doesn't this exist already?'"
Jasmine Perkins, assistant athletic director for student-athlete development, invited Pollard to speak.
"I felt she would encourage student-athlete engagement," Perkins said. "She's young, she's relatable, she's driven, she's passionate, so I love getting that energy in front of our student athletes, especially when it comes to career exploration and leadership development.
"She talked about her journey. And how being in college athletics has given her success in her current career."
From feedback she received, Perkins said all attendees said the "Athlete to Entrepreneur" workshop was highly engaging and that they are more confident in transitioning to entrepreneurship after graduation.
Pollard said the student-athletes were receptive to her message and eager to learn more.
"After the workshop, student-athletes walked away saying 'OK, we're going to meet up weekly and keep working on this idea,'" she said. "My motto has always been, 'If it reaches one, it reaches a ton.'"
