Penn State alum delivers lecture on maps, basketball and the power of geography

University Park, Pa. — Penn State Geography alumnus Kirk Goldsberry returned to Penn State’s campus this fall to share how spatial data transformed professional basketball and his own career from the classroom to ESPN, the San Antonio Spurs and beyond.

Goldsberry, who earned his bachelor’s degree in geography from Penn State in 1999 and his doctorate in geography from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 2007, delivered a public lecture on Sept. 26 titled “Mapping the Modern NBA: How Cartography Helped Change Basketball Forever” to a full house in Foster Auditorium and a virtual audience via Zoom.

The event was part of the department’s Fall 2025 Coffee Hour speaker series and marked a homecoming for the cartographer-turned-analyst whose career trajectory showcases the versatility of geography as a discipline.

“The explosion of spatial data changed everything, including in sports,” Goldsberry said. “Mapping where players are good is now essential to basketball, and geography gave me the tools to help teams and fans understand the game in new ways.”

While Goldsberry is widely known for his eye-catching shot charts and his New York Times bestselling book, “Sprawlball: A Visual Tour of the New Era of the NBA,” his innovations are deeply rooted in geographic principles. Drawing on training in geographic information science and cartographic design, Goldsberry transformed raw spatial data, such as where players take and make shots, into powerful visuals that reshaped how the NBA evaluates performance and strategy.

He credited Penn State faculty like Cindy Brewer and Anthony Robinson for teaching him how to turn complex location-based data into compelling, decision-shaping graphics. His work helped usher in a new era of analytics in basketball, where understanding where something happens on the court became as important as what happens.

“One of the best things I learned at Penn State was the grammar of maps,” Goldsberry said. “It’s not just about software or coding — it’s about expression. Understanding the principles of symbolization and visual communication lets you take complex data and make it understandable. That’s a skill I use every single day.”

Goldsberry emphasized how geographic thinking, especially spatial reasoning and the science of where, equips students for a range of careers beyond sports.

Goldsberry reflected a deep appreciation for the geographic training he received at Penn State, highlighting the University’s ongoing influence in fields far beyond academia.

“Penn State is one of the best geography programs in the world,” he said. “It’s accessible to everyday people. First-generation college students can come here and learn these incredible technologies and go out and change the world.”

Reflecting on his path from Penn State to a career that spans sports, data and academia, Goldsberry encouraged students to explore the wide potential of spatial thinking.

“Spatial thinking in basketball is still underrepresented and that means opportunity for young people,” he said. “There are similar chances in every field where spatial data is waiting to be understood.”

Goldsberry helped lead Team USA Basketball to a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics as lead analyst before joining the San Antonio Spurs, where he served as vice president of strategic research from 2016 to 2018. In that role, he applied spatial data to evaluate player performance and inform game strategy. He is now executive director of the Business of Sports Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, in addition to his role as an NBA analyst for The Ringer.