INDIANAPOLIS – Nine University of Dayton athletics programs received 2012 Academic Progress Rate (APR) public recognition awards, as the NCAA honored Division I sports teams ranked in the top ten percent of the latest multi-year APR scores.
The Flyer teams honored were football, men’s basketball, men’s golf, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, women’s golf, women’s rowing, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball.
Dayton football was one of two programs honored from the Pioneer Football League. UD football has been honored with an APR public recognition award for seven consecutive years – every time since the APR was instituted. They are in an elite group. Dayton is one of 10 football teams to earn the honor all seven years. The others are: Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Davidson, Duke, Harvard, Princeton, Pennsylvania and Yale.
The UD men’s and women’s golf teams have also earned the recognition for the seventh consecutive year. Dayton is one of three universities to have both its golf programs earn APR recognition all seven years. The others are Dartmouth and Yale.
The men’s basketball team has been recognized five of the last six years. The Flyers are one of 18 teams to be honored in at least five of the seven years of the APR public recognition awards. Belmont, BYU, Brown, Holy Cross, Columbia, Davidson, Princeton and Navy have been recognized all seven years. Bucknell, Harvard, UNC-Chapel Hill, Pennsylvania and Yale have been honored six times. Dayton, Elon, Rider, Kansas and Notre Dame have earned recognition five times.
The UD rowing team has also earned the APR recognition award five times. The Flyers are among nine teams to earn the distinction at least five times. The teams include: Bucknell, Dartmouth, Dayton, Lehigh, MIT, Navy, Sacred Heart and Yale.
The Flyer women’s basketball team has earned APR recognition for four consecutive years. They are one of 13 teams that received the honor this year who also earned a berth to the 2012 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship. The teams are: Dayton, DePaul, Green Bay, Kansas State, Marist, Michigan, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Princeton, Sacred Heart, South Dakota State, Stanford and Tennessee.
The women’s volleyball program was one of three A-10 programs to earn APR recognition. Xavier and Fordham also were on the list. Women’s volleyball was also one of 13 teams to earn this year’s public recognition and also earn a berth in the 2011 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship. Colorado State, Duke, Morehead State, Purdue, Ohio State, Nebraska, UNC-Chapel Hill, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, Texas, Western Kentucky and Wichita State
The women’s cross country team earned its first APR recognition award and is one of four Atlantic 10 institutions to earn the distinctions. Fordham, George Washington and Saint Joseph’s also earned acclaim from the NCAA.
The women’s tennis team also earned its first APR distinction. UD was one of six A-10 schools to be recognized. Charlotte, Fordham, George Washington, Saint Louis and Xavier were also honored.
Each year the NCAA honors selected Division I sports teams by publicly recognizing their latest multi-year NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR). This announcement is part of the overall Division I academic reform effort and is intended to highlight teams that demonstrate a commitment to academic progress and retention of student-athletes by achieving the top APRs within their respective sports. Specifically, these teams posted multi-year APRs in the top 10 percent of all squads in each sport.
The effort is part of a public recognition program the Division I Board of Directors approved in January 2006. The 954 teams publicly recognized this year for high achievement represents 560 women’s teams and 394 men’s or mixed squads.
In 2007, 839 teams were recognized, in 2008 712 were honored, in 2009 the number was 767, in 2010 there were 841 teams, in 2011 909 teams were recognized.
Dayton ranked second in the Atlantic 10 in number of teams recognized. Fordham had 11 teams recognized. Richmond and George Washington had eight. Rounding out the conference was Xavier (6), Saint Joseph’s (5), Charlotte (3), Saint Louis (3), Temple (3), Duquesne (2), La Salle (2), Rhode Island (1), St. Bonaventure (1) and UMass (1).
Each year, the NCAA tracks the classroom performance of student-athletes on every Division I team through the annual scorecard of academic achievement, known as APR. The score measures eligibility and retention each semester or quarter and provides a clear picture of the academic culture in each sport. The most recent APRs are multi-year rates based on scores from the 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic years.
Full APR scores for all teams will be released June 20.
