Speaker Profile

Nick Elam, Ph.D. has a varied background in education, leadership, mathematics, and sports. Dr. Elam currently serves as Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at Ball State University. He previously served as a school principal and high school math teacher in Ohio after graduating from the University of Dayton. Dr. Elam is Founder/Coordinator of M-SportsFans (an official Special Interest Group within Mensa), and grounds crew member for the Cincinnati Reds.

Dr. Elam is best known for the Elam Ending concept in basketball. After persistently promoting the concept since 2007, the Elam Ending was implemented for the first time at TBT: The Basketball Tournament in 2017. Since then, the Elam Ending has grown rapidly throughout the basketball world, being implemented successfully at the NBA All-Star Game, Canadian Elite Basketball League, NBA G League, and countless grassroots-level leagues and events. Discussion about the Elam Ending has been featured on hundreds of outlets, including NBATV GameTime Live, Pardon the Interruption, Around the Horn, Outside the Lines, Sports Illustrated Innovation Issue, Boston Globe, Philadelphia Inquirer, Mensa Bulletin, Freakonomics podcast, and the book How to Watch Basketball Like a Genius by Nick Greene. Dr. Elam has been honored as keynote speaker at the Midwest Sports Analytics Meeting, Ohio State University Sports Analytics Association Conference, and by Wichita State University’s College of Applied Studies. He has also been a guest speaker at sport management/analytics courses and clubs at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio University, Indiana University, Wharton School, University of Wisconsin, and Syracuse University. Dr. Elam enjoys additional opportunities to share his inspirational story of persistence and positive thinking with audiences in school and business settings.