FORT MYERS, Fla. — About an hour before the start of an afternoon practice last week, Kaneisha Atwater shot dozens of 3-pointers as a wall-mounted computer called the Noah Instant calculated the trajectory of each attempt.
The Noah, as the machine is known around Alico Arena, has become a rudimentary part of life for the women’s basketball team at Florida Gulf Coast University. The Eagles love to shoot 3-pointers — few teams in the country make more — and they spend hours trying to perfect the craft.
Atwater, though, was struggling to produce the high-arcing, 45-degree parabola that she felt would help maximize her odds of having the ball sail through the hoop. The Noah, with its robust speaker system, spewed numbers — 39, 41, 37 — that confirmed what Atwater, a junior guard, already knew.
“My shots are flat right now,” she said.
She also appeared to be under the impression that she was working on her game in relative seclusion. The gym was otherwise empty except for the presence of Chelsea Lyles, an assistant coach who was rebounding for her and providing encouragement. But someone else was watching, too.
Karl Smesko, the team’s head coach, rose from his chair in a luxury suite tucked high in the arena.
“She’s shooting it low, and nothing is changing,” he muttered as he leaned over the railing to face the court below.
“Hey, Lyles!” he barked. “Get her to shoot it 45 and above!”
As the architect of one of the country’s winningest programs this side of Connecticut, Smesko lets little escape his notice. He crunches statistics, shunning midrange shots in favor of layups and 3-pointers. He devours game film. He studies shooting technique and defensive positioning. He also exercises his vocal cords, going so far as to carry an electronic whistle. He simply presses a button on the hand-held device, and all the action stops.
“I think he does it so he can yell and blow his whistle at the same time,” said Jamie Church, an assistant director of communications for the athletic department.
“Come on,” Smesko said. “I honestly don’t think I yell that much.”
Smesko, 44, who was hired in 2001, is the only women’s basketball coach the university has ever known, guiding Florida Gulf Coast from its infancy as an N.A.I.A. program to a successful stretch as a Division II team to its current status as midmajor behemoth. The Eagles, who have reeled off 22 straight victories, are 27-2 and ranked No. 20 entering their quarterfinal Friday against North Florida in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament.
Their success might come as a surprise to those who know Florida Gulf Coast as Dunk City, a moniker that has accompanied the men’s team since its seismic splash in the 2013 N.C.A.A. tournament, which included upsets over Georgetown and San Diego State as a No. 15 seed. But the women’s team, which ranked third in the country in made 3-pointers, averaging 9.6 a game, has been more dominant, winning five straight Atlantic Sun regular-season championships while assembling a 209-45 record since joining Division I in 2007.
“I think we sort of feel like, O.K., the men made their run and now we want to make ours,” Jenna Cobb, a senior guard, said.
Yet for all their gaudy winning streaks and postseason aspirations, the Eagles continue to do their dirty work behind the scenes, in the weight room and at practice, when no one is watching — no one, that is, except for their fancy wall-mounted shooting computers and their tireless coach.
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Written by: Scott Cacciola, The New York Times
Image by: Corey Perrine, The New York Times