INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Two UNC Greensboro athletic programs received accolades for historically perfect Academic Progress Report (APR) scores when the NCAA released its list of Public Recognition Awards on Thursday afternoon.
The women's tennis and women's basketball programs received awards for historical honors, having a perfect 1,000 APR scores for the period of four academic years from 2004-2008 (2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08). The same two programs received public praise last year from the NCAA for having perfect APR scores.
"We are very proud that our women's tennis and women's basketball programs were able to maintain their fine APR performance, and they should be, as well," said UNCG Director of Athletics Nelson Bobb. "I have said before that the APR is a very complicated and fickle formula. There are a lot of variables that can very quickly take a program from perfect to imperfect. These two teams should be commended for being able to keep their slates perfect."
The APR provides a real-time look at a team's academic success each semester or quarter by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete. The APR includes eligibility, retention and graduation in the calculation and provides a clear picture of the academic culture in each sport.
Of the 6,484 Division I teams, a total of 767 were publicly recognized for having APR scores in the Top 10 percent for their respective sports. Those APR scores ranged from 976 to a perfect score of 1,000. Broken down by gender, there were 448 women's teams and 319 men's or mixed squads that received the recognition. The 767 teams publicly recognized this year for high achievement represent 11.9 percent of the 6,484 Division I teams.
UNC Greensboro was one of 140 institutions with multiple teams receiving a Public Recognition Award. A total of 205 institutions out of the 331 in Division I had at least one team recognized. Another six schools that offer athletics in more than one division, out of 50 overall that do so within the NCAA, placed Division I teams on the list as well.
Inside the Southern Conference, eight of the 12 member schools had at least one team receive a Public Recognition Award. A total of 38 Southern Conference teams received Public Recognition Awards on Thursday. Davidson led the way with 11, followed by Wofford's eight and Furman's six. Elon and Samford both had five teams, The Citadel and UNCG each had two teams and Appalachian State had one.
Last year, a total of 712 teams were recognized. The number of teams in some sports may exceed 10 percent depending on how many achieved perfect 1,000 APR scores.
The NCAA's full release of APR data for all of the Division I teams will take place on Wednesday, May 6.
- UNCG -