Magazine

When the Minnesota Timberwolves were looking at new ways to measure the physical performance of some of the NBA’s most talented players, they turned to the expertise of St. Olaf Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Jenny Miller and her team of student researchers. The partnership has proven invaluable.

Javair Gillett has spent decades overseeing the physical performance of some of the world’s best athletes. 

He served as the head strength and conditioning coach of the Detroit Tigers during a decade in which the Major League Baseball team rebuilt from years of struggle — including a near-record number of losses in 2003 — to become an American League powerhouse with four consecutive division titles. He then spent six years as the director of athletic performance for the Houston Rockets during an era when National Basketball Association (NBA) superstar James Harden led the franchise to multiple playoff runs, including the 2015 and 2018 Western Conference Finals. 

And for the last five years, Gillett has served as the vice president of sport science and performance for the Minnesota Timberwolves — a team that has evolved into a top Western Conference contender driven by a core of rising stars and All-NBA talents. 

Across his career, Gillett’s work has focused on a deceptively simple question: How can he use science and data to help unlock the maximum potential of elite athletes? 

He has found much of the answer in continually seeking out new tools and learning from other experts in his field. And that’s exactly why last year, he reached out to St. Olaf College Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Jenny Miller. 

“Dr. Miller is great at just coming in and communicating well with the players. She really has a knack for getting them to understand what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. She’s made my job a lot easier and has allowed me to be on the floor coaching the players more.”

— Minnesota Timberwolves Vice President of Sport Science and Performance Javier Gillet

Miller not only has an impressive depth of expertise in performance physiology, but her lab at St. Olaf has equipment that almost no other college or university in the region has — including a high-tech system to analyze athlete biomechanics similar to one that Gillett knew the Minnesota Timberwolves would soon be installing. 

“He wanted to see the equipment we have and learn how we run our assessments,” Miller says. 

So she invited him to campus for a tour that highlighted why St. Olaf’s kinesiology program ranks among the best in the state. Impressed with what he saw, Gillett asked Miller if she would be willing to run tests on all of the Timberwolves players. She agreed, with one condition: she wanted her team of St. Olaf student researchers to perform the work alongside her. 

For Gillett, it was a no-brainer.

 “We shared the same vision. I’ve always had a passion for education, so I wanted to figure out ways to get students involved while at the same time getting us the information we need to better our program for our players,” he says. 

For student researchers Ashlyn Jore ’26, Claire Keech ’26, and Calvin Keesler ’27, it was an incredible opportunity to gain hands-on experience while measuring the physical health and endurance of some of the NBA’s top players. 

“Getting this experience as undergrads is not something many people have the opportunity to do,” says Jore, a kinesiology and biology major who plans to attend graduate school for exercise physiology and pursue a career in research. “We were all in.” 

As part of Miller’s team, the three student researchers had learned how to conduct two types of tests that would be central to their work with the Timberwolves players. 

The first measures how much oxygen a person’s body consumes while exercising. Miller’s lab at St. Olaf is unique in that it has two clinical-grade metabolic carts that can be used to run these assessments. 

“When we conduct this assessment, an individual steps onto a treadmill, a sleek mask strapped over their face, tubes snaking away to a machine that tracks every breath. Then the real work begins. The treadmill speeds up, minute by minute, pushing the individual until their lungs and legs are firing at full capacity. What the machine is capturing in that moment is the body’s raw ability to use oxygen and turn it into energy,” Miller says. “It also shows how quickly they recover. As soon as the treadmill slows, the data reveals how fast their breathing steadies, how quickly their system clears carbon dioxide, how ready they are to go again.”

The second test is done using a system of high-speed infrared motion capture cameras and markers that analyze athlete biomechanics in 3D. Miller has an eight-camera system set up in a large, warehouse-style space in the lower level of Skoglund Center — one of just two such setups in the state and the only one close to Minneapolis. It captures data at high frame rates to measure joint angles, acceleration, and force, which coaches can then use to develop plans to optimize technique and prevent injuries. 

Gillett, who holds a doctorate in health sciences, says that kind of information is invaluable in a professional sports setting where keeping athletes in peak form during a long and physically demanding season is critical. He visited St. Olaf several times to learn how to run the athletes through the assessments that Miller’s team uses. He wanted to use the tests to understand where each of the Minnesota Timberwolves players was at, how far he could push them, and what kind of personalized plan they would each need to get there. After a few meetings with Miller, he knew she could play an important role in helping him do that. He asked the St. Olaf team to run assessments on Timberwolves players, and they got to work last summer. 

“When we’re looking at individuals with higher work capacities, we want to know how hard they can push, how long they can sustain it, and how fast they bounce back,” Miller says. These individuals operate on a different physiological playing field, she notes. “They’re typically able to take in and use oxygen at much higher rates than the average person. Their bodies are incredibly efficient at delivering that oxygen to the muscles and converting it into usable energy.” 

That efficiency pays off in more ways than one. Because their systems produce fewer metabolic byproducts, there’s less waste to clear and less strain on the body. “They only take in what they need, and they don’t overwork to get it,” Miller says. “That’s what allows them to hit those extreme levels of intensity.” 

And perhaps most impressively, they don’t stay fatigued for long. “Their recovery is usually very fast, which is essential in a sport where your only break might be a quick stint on the bench before you’re expected to be back going at full throttle,” she says. 

But even professional athletes have room for improvement — and that’s how this data helps the Timberwolves staff understand what to work on with each player. 

“We’re trying to personalize their performance, strength, and conditioning program. So this data is used to create better exercise programs for each one of the athletes that fits their specific needs,” Gillett says. 

In his work with the Timberwolves, Gillett oversees a staff that includes experts in strength and conditioning, nutrition, mental performance, and sports science. They work closely with the team’s medical staff and coaches. 

“One of the things I’m really committed to is integrating the work we’re all doing to provide the best information possible to our players,” Gillett says. “I interpret the data we collect to make sure it’s easy to understand for multiple departments, whether it’s a report to the coaches or something that I share directly with the players.” 

The most important task, he notes, is getting each player to understand and value the data. That, he says, is where Miller excels. 

“Dr. Miller is great at just coming in and communicating really well with the players, despite not knowing them as well as we do and working with them every day. She really has a knack for getting them to understand what we’re doing and why we’re doing it,” Gillett says. “She’s made my job a heck of a lot easier and has allowed me to be on the floor coaching the players more.” 

The importance of translating data in a way that is meaningful is a lesson all three St. Olaf students say will stick with them as they develop their future careers. 

“All three of us find it really interesting to look at the raw data and get into the nitty gritty, but that’s not always going to appeal to the athletes. It can sometimes be difficult to see the direct applications of that. So we had to learn how to present the purpose of this assessment in a way that was relevant to each of them,” Jore says.

 Keech agrees, adding that she also took away the importance of building relationships. 

“One thing that Javair told us is that you really need a lot of trust with your athletes,” she says.

Watching both Gillett and Miller interact with the players provided a great example of what earning that trust looks like, Keesler says. 

“These are athletes who are used to being the best of the best, from high school to college to the pros, so it takes a very high level of communication to make it clear to them how these tests can help them,” he adds.

Another factor that proved helpful is that all three student researchers are Division III athletes. Keesler, a kinesiology major who plans to enroll in dental school, is a member of the St. Olaf baseball team. Keech, a kinesiology and biology major who will begin a doctoral program for physical therapy this fall, is a member of the St. Olaf track and field team. And Jore is a talented track and field athlete who broke school records this spring for her performances in the long jump and 60m dash. 

“When you’re at the professional sports level , you have to really hone different aspects of your training to bring you from an already elite performance level to something even higher. That difference can be difficult to achieve if you don’t have access to testing like this.” — Ashlyn Jore ’26

Their familiarity with the world of competitive sports not only helped them understand what drives the Timberwolves players, but also led them to appreciate even more the physical prowess of the athletes. 

“While all of the tests we are performing are interesting for college athletes like us who are trying to find an edge, advanced techniques like these are non-negotiable if Javair is going to be able to help his players reach their full athletic potential,” Keesler says. 

Small differences in the data can be very important, Jore adds. “When you’re at the professional sports level, you have to really hone different aspects of your training to bring you from an already elite performance level to something even higher,” she says. “That difference can be difficult to achieve if you don’t have access to testing like this.” 

Providing St. Olaf students with an opportunity to apply their knowledge in a professional sports setting is exciting, Miller says. 

“Knowing that we are contributing to the success of these athletes is really awesome,” she says. 

Keesler says the opportunity to pair his passion for sports with a hands-on learning experience like this is an experience he never dreamed of having at St. Olaf. 

“I love innovation and learning new things, especially in something I’m passionate about,” he says. “These are skills and experiences you can’t replicate or get anywhere else. Putting your feet in the fire and meeting the high standards of working with some of the greatest athletes in the world really challenges you. I’ve really grown as a person in addition to developing incredible skills for my career path.” 

Having this opportunity is proof of the power of the liberal arts, Keech says. 

“A liberal arts education is a great way to blend what you’re passionate about and what you’re going to pursue for your future career. I can participate in sports, I can pursue a degree in biology and kinesiology, and I can take a dance class for fun on the side? Sign me up,” Keech says. Being a member of a research team working with the Minnesota Timberwolves is icing on the cake. 

And so is having a faculty member like Miller. 

“She’s so committed to pursuing these extraordinary experiences for us,” Keesler says. “It just goes to show her dedication to her students, and that has allowed us to work with a professional team in a way that very few other students at other colleges are able to.” 

For Gillett, working with St. Olaf students is a way to pay forward the opportunities he got in college. 

“If I didn’t have the opportunities that I was offered as an undergraduate student, I wouldn’t have been able to get into the pro setting literally right after I graduated,” he says. “These students are great, and it’s fun to be able to share my experiences with them. I’m sure they enjoy being around the athletes, but I’m putting them to work and they are getting a very hands-on learning experience. They have a wonderful mentor in Dr. Miller, and they are willing to really put in the work. That’s going to take them far.” 

Gillett adds that his collaboration with Miller has exceeded all of his expectations. 

“I’ve learned way more from her than she has from me,” he says. “I would consider her a mentor to me and someone who helps keep me sharp in the field. She’s helping me a lot and keeping me at the top of my game. This partnership is exactly what I was hoping for.”