Two Cougar Teams Earn Academic Recognition from the NCAA

PROVO -- BYU men’s basketball and women’s volleyball are among the teams the NCAA has honored for earning multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports. The NCAA’s APR calculation includes eligibility, retention and graduation to provide a clear picture of the academic culture of each sport.

This marks the third-straight year the men’s basketball team has received public recognition from the NCAA while women’s volleyball is receiving recognition for a second-consecutive year. BYU is the only school in the state to have teams receive APR recognition in 2008-09.

“These two teams have worked hard on the court and in the classroom and deserve the recognition,” said E.J. Caffaro, director of BYU's Student Athlete Academic Center. “We have great academic advisors and coaches who give our student-athletes the support they need to achieve success in the classroom.”

In NCAA Division I men’s basketball 36 teams qualified for public recognition out of 342 programs. BYU is one of only 10 teams in the country that received high academic achievement honors and also qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Other NCAA Tournament teams that received APR recognition include Dayton, Duke, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan State, North Carolina, Texas, Villanova and VCU. San Diego State is the only other men’s basketball team in the Mountain West Conference to earn recognition.

The Cougars are just one of three men’s basketball programs to earn APR recognition and an NCAA Tournament berth in each of the last three seasons, joining North Carolina and Villanova.

Along with its academic success, BYU men’s basketball finished 25-8 overall and 12-4 in the MWC, its third-straight season with 25 wins, winning the MWC regular season title and earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

BYU is tied with TCU and San Diego State for the second-most teams to receive APR recognition in the MWC. Air Force and UNLV lead with three apiece while New Mexico and Wyoming each had one team receive honors. UNLV is the only other women’s volleyball team in the conference to receive recognition from the NCAA.

Click here for the release from the NCAA