Brief
NTangible launches ‘Clutch Factor’ test to gauge athletes’ pressure performance
Co‑founder Dan Connerty says the test can double a recruit’s odds of landing a Division I scholarship.
By Felo News Desk · Published
NTangible, a sports‑tech startup, unveiled its "Clutch Factor" assessment on Oct 14, 2026, saying the tool can predict how well athletes will perform in high‑pressure situations. The company’s co‑founder and CEO, former baseball player Dan Connerty, described the test to TechCrunch as a way to quantify the mental side of sport that has traditionally been unmeasurable.
What happened
The assessment adapts the Thematic Apperception Test, presenting respondents with ambiguous images and asking them to describe the scene, their imagined role, and likely outcomes. Answers are scored against a neurolinguistic guide created by psychologists, producing a "clutch factor" score from 0 to 1000. Connerty said a score above 750 makes an athlete "twice as likely to commit to a Division I school." The company currently offers the test for nine sports and plans to expand into corporate settings, where a related "NTerpret" version would evaluate employees’ responses to pressure.
What the reports add
Connerty emphasized that the test is not a training platform, but he has partnered with former MLB sports psychologist Howie Schwartz to compile a list of mental‑exercise recommendations for athletes who want to improve their scores. He also noted a potential weakness: athletes might inflate their answers to impress recruiters. In the author’s own trial, an honest attempt yielded a score of 584, while a second, “ideal‑recruit” attempt produced 802.
What was said
"We really wanted to hyper focus on this idea of clutch performance," Connerty told TechCrunch. "Cognitive [science] itself is just this black box that nobody’s wanted to touch, because nobody’s had the ability to measure it accurately prior." He added that the score can be used in "rankings, leaderboards, recruiting conversations, NIL conversations, and scholarship conversations." Connerty also said, "Clutch is a skill that can be trained," and described the collaboration with Schwartz on mental‑exercise drills.
How it came about
Connerty, who transitioned from professional baseball to sports‑tech entrepreneurship, developed the assessment with Dr. Ed Levine, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of South Florida. Their joint effort seeks to fill a gap in collegiate recruiting, where coaches traditionally rely on physical metrics but lack reliable data on mental resilience. NTangible hopes the tool will become a standard part of the recruiting toolkit as colleges continue to invest heavily in high‑profile athletes.
Key facts
- NTangible's Clutch Factor assessment scores athletes on a 0‑1000 scale. (techcrunch.com)
- A score above 750 is claimed to double an athlete's chance of securing a Division I scholarship. (techcrunch.com)
- The test adapts the Thematic Apperception Test and uses a neurolinguistic scoring guide. (techcrunch.com)
- NTangible currently supports testing for nine sports and plans a workplace version called NTerpret. (techcrunch.com)
- Co‑founder Dan Connerty partnered with former MLB psychologist Howie Schwartz for mental‑exercise recommendations. (techcrunch.com)
Sources
- [1] techcrunch.com — originally reported as “NTangible bets it can predict how athletes will perform under pressure”
