April 23, 2009
Football APR Flyer
INDIANAPOLIS - Eight athletics programs at the University of Dayton were honored by the NCAA with Public Recognition Awards for their latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores on Wednesday. The sports were men's and women's basketball, football, men's and women's golf, women's soccer, men's tennis and women's indoor track.
These teams posted multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports. The Public Recognition Awards are part of the broad Division I academic reform effort. Only 19 of the 331 NCAA Division I schools had more teams cited than the eight that Dayton had. UD had the most teams honored of any Atlantic 10 member.
The Flyer men's basketball team is one of nine NCAA teams listed (BYU, Duke, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan State, North Carolina, Villanova and VCU are the others). Men's basketball and men's golf were the only teams from the A-10 cited in their respective sports. Dayton and Davidson were the only two Pioneer Football League teams recognized. UD's women's golf team participates in the Colonial Athletic Association, and among women's golf teams participating in the CAA, only Dayton and James Madison were recognized.
"This is an accomplishment that is shared throughout the University," Dayton Vice-President and Director of Athletics Tim Wabler said. "We hold true to the belief that with all the victories and accomplishments our teams are earning on the court and the playing field, they can also be successful in the classroom. News like this simply confirms that it can be done. It's a commitment that is campus-wide. There are so many people at the University who help us year-in-and-year-out and share in this achievement."
As a conference, the A-10's 50 teams recognized was the fifth-best total, behind the Ivy League (144), the Patriot League (85), the Big East Conference (60), and the Atlantic Coast Conference (51).
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.
High-performing teams receiving Public Recognition Awards this year posted APR scores ranging from 976 to a perfect 1,000, said NCAA President Myles Brand. He stressed that three of the four 2009 Men's Final Four teams--Michigan State University and Villanova University along with North Carolina--are receiving Public Recognition Awards for their high APR scores.
"The vast majority of sports teams are performing very well academically and exceeding the 925 threshold for their APR scores," Brand said. "Nearly 800 of these teams are worthy of special attention, and I commend them for their excellence in academics and athletics."
The 767 teams publicly recognized this year for high achievement represent 11.9 percent of the approximately 6,484 Division I teams. The list includes 448 women's teams and 319 men's or mixed squads.
Last year, a total of 712 teams were recognized. The number of teams in some sports may exceed 10 percent due to mathematical ties.
Multi-year APR scores for all Division I sports teams, including the teams receiving Public Recognition Awards, will be announced May 6. The announcement also will include immediate and historical penalties for low-performing teams. The most recent APRs are multi-year rates based on scores from the 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 academic years.
