By From a small Montana town to NBA analytics: Abe Montalvo’s big dream.
Abraham “Abe” Montalvo is chasing an ambitious dream destined to take him a long way from Terry, Montana, where he was raised. He hopes to break into the world of NBA sports broadcasting and analytics.
“The big dream is to be a sports analyst of some sort,” Montalvo said.
Montalvo says his love of sports can be traced back to Sundays with his dad.
“My stepdad was a big football guy, so on Sundays, I watched NFL Live on ESPN,” he recalled. “Specifically, a segment called ‘By the Numbers’ glued me to the TV, where two of myfavorite analysts, Adam Schefter and Mel Kiper Jr., broke down the most crucial statistics of the game.”
Lots of his friends bought baseball cards for the pictures of their heroes. Montalvo flipped his cards over.
“Growing up, I knew many kids who collected sports cards, but I found the most interesting parts to be the back, where it displayed the player’s season stats along with the previous seasons,” he said. “It wasn’t just about the graphics; it was the statistics that fascinated me – the numbers that revealed how players had performed and evolved over time.”
Montalvo grew up in Terry, Montana, a Class C school in eastern Montana, where only seven students graduated with him. He was the valedictorian of his class and the only one who went on to college. He received an academic scholarship towards his math and data science degree at Carroll and walked onto the track and field team, transitioning from high school baseball to shotput and javelin.
Abe formed one of his best friendships on the racquetball court. He and Cole Odegard enjoyed their games, even though they knew they weren’t the best players.
“Abe will go out of his way to inconvenience himself to help out even the most random of strangers,” said Odegard. “If you were sick, Abe would be the first person to get you something from the store to help.”
Abe’s ability to communicate and analyze the game of basketball makes his goal of sports broadcasting a natural fit.
Dr. Ted Wendt, a professor who has worked closely with Abe, believes in his potential.
“He’s got a great voice when public speaking through presentations, matched with a great personality,” said Wendt. “His senior thesis was about different analytical measures of player effectiveness, and it is evident that he’s both passionate and informed about this. I know he’d do great in this field.”
Wendt, a quick-witted professor himself, enjoys having Abe around.
“He has a great sense of humor,” said Wendt. “It doesn’t always come out immediately, but as he gets comfortable, it shines through.”
Whether it’s in the classroom, with friends, or in a professional setting, Abe has a way of making those around him feel at ease. He can turn even the most stressful or mundane days into enjoyable ones.
After graduation, Abe plans to stay in Montana and apply his math and data science degree in a career that will help him gain financial stability.
His goal is to eventually pursue a master’s degree in applied statistics at the University of Michigan.
“My grandmother went to Michigan and graduated with a math degree,” he said. Though he initially hoped to attend Michigan right out of high school, but the application fee proved to be too expensive.
So he decided he’d be a Saint first, Wolverine later.
In the immediate future, Abe is setting his sights on internships with minor league baseball teams in Montana, such as the Missoula Paddle Heads, Glacier Range Riders, Billings Mustangs, and Great Falls Voyagers.
He hopes that these internships will allow him to apply his skills in real-world settings and gain experience in sports data analysis, a field that blends his love of numbers with his passion for sports.
“Numbers are very loud, and the beauty of math and statistics is the way that you can make numbers talk,” Montalvo said. “I can’t wait to get this ball officially rollin’.”
Nice. We’re done. I worry a little about graphics/grammar changes that somehow didn’t reach the final. But some did. But I edited carefully, so I think I caught all of them again.
