I first read about tempo-free stats in Basketball on Paper while I was in college, um, just a few 10 years back now, and it was an immediate light-bulb moment for me. There was also a lot in that book about strategic approach that was not appreciated for a long time. Fortunately, the internet changed a lot, and it helps too when the pros set an example, because college coaches are nothing if not leeches off of their professional counterparts. (And vice versa.)
Still it’s mildly surprising to see a coach like Marshall’s Dan D’Antoni so openly advocate for an analytic approach to college basketball, as he did after his team’s loss to Pittsburgh last week.