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ATTLEBOROAttleboro High School basketball player Joe Narkiewicz dribbled in the gym recently under the watch of a high-tech talent evaluator.

The junior center did a drill run by 94Fifty Sports Technologies Inc., a fairly new Attleboro company that measures basketball players' skills and muscle memory through wireless sensors in basketballs. Players are timed and scored on their prowess at dribbling right-handed, left-handed, for example, compared to their peers.

The company has tested thousands of players of all skill levels - including the NBA.

This summer, 94Fifty announced it will run the first "simultaneous virtual skill competition between athletes in two different cities." The firm will test thousands of athletes in Boston and Los Angeles between Sept. 1 and March 31. The winner will be determined by the averages from the top 25 scores from both places.

Narkiewicz ran drills during an Oct. 19 event at Attleboro High for players in the Attleboro and MetroWest areas. He said the feedback will help him dribble better. "The skills we do (in practice) really get you stronger - not compared to other kids and grades," Narkiewicz said.

This summer, 94Fifty was named by Discovery Tech, a Discovery Channel affiliate, on its' list of "10 technologies that are changing the way sports are practiced, played, scored and watched."

Those innovations ranged from ingestible computers to in-store diagnostics.

"Across industries, the trend is toward mobile, rich and instant data. Sports are no exception," Discovery Tech wrote.

"Mix radio frequency identification tags, global positioning system devices, remote cameras and broadband networks, and then synchronize and display, and what do you get? More information than you'll want to know, guaranteed.

"Sounds big league, but information technology is infusing sports at all levels."

CEO Michael Crowley said he started 94Fifty two years ago. He had watched a lot of basketball around the country, and felt the skill level was diminishing.

His program is designed to promote fundamentals by giving players and coaches data measuring those skills, compared to the individual and their peers. That data includes time in control of the ball, versus time without it; and the consistency of each dribble, he said.

"It's really about control and speed," Crowley said. "If you can do those two things, you get a solid baseline for control."

Crowley said the tests last about two minutes per player. The program's cost varies with the size of the group. A group of 50 or more costs $10 per player, he said.

At the recent Attleboro High session organized by the Attleboro MetroWest Basketball teams, Crowley stood with a group of seven girls, and introduced them to a dribbling drill.

"What we know is this basketball is only going to do what you guys tell it to do," Crowley said.

Attleboro Youth Basketball Association President Tom Houle called Crowley's program "long overdue."

"I can honestly see players, and compare, but we never had anything to judge it on," Houle said. "It gives us a score to gauge what they're doing."

Houle said the AYBA plans to test its players at the beginning and the end of the season.

Attleboro eighth-grader E.J. Santarpio called the drills "pretty cool, because I've never had a computer tell me about my basketball skills. It's always been a person, so it's a lot different."

"I really didn't know how I compared to other people my age and my height," Santarpio said.

Santarpio said the drills indicated his left-handed dribbling and speed dribbling skills need work.

"I'm going out in my driveway to work on them," he said.

MICHAEL GELBWASSER can be reached at 508-236-0439 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.