One thing that I love about the U is the fact that the term “student-athlete” really applies, and that our coaches and administrators take it seriously. Each and every year, the U is one of the best schools in the nation when it comes to APR, across multiple programs. Just a couple of days ago, three programs were called out by the NCAA, including the men’s basketball team, the women’s cross country team, and the volleyball team. It’s also validating since those programs have grown so much in the Pac-12, especially basketball and volleyball. Coach K is a non-sense coach, and it would be no surprise that he expects his players to hit the books. Of course, if you’re doing poorly with the APR score, you could lose on the field stuff, like practice time, scholarships, etc.
Check out the official release below for more:
Press release courtesy of UtahUtes.com
INDIANAPOLIS – Three of Utah's athletic teams have been publicly recognized by the NCAA for posting a multi-year (four-year) Academic Progress Rate (APR) in the top 10 percent of all athletic teams in the country, the NCAA announced on Wednesday. Utah men's basketball, women's cross country and volleyball teams have been honored this year.
This marks the fourth time and second-consecutive year the Runnin' Ute basketball team has been honored, with the previous three accolades coming back in 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2015-16. The women's cross country team has been honored for a second-consecutive season and second time overall, while the volleyball team earns its second honor overall and first accolade since 2004-05.
Each year, the NCAA honors selected NCAA Division I sports teams by publicly recognizing their latest multiyear NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate. 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.
Pac-12 all-academic selections for each squad included: three for men's basketball (David Collette and Parker Van Dyke, second team; Jake Connor, honorable mention), eight for women's cross country (Giselle Slotboom and Megan Spehar, first team; Shaylen Crook, Caitlin Faust, Dakota Grossman, Hannah McInturff, Jade Mulvey and Sadie Wassum, honorable mention) and three for volleyball (Eliza Katoa, first team; Jessie Openshaw, second team; and Berkeley Oblad, honorable mention).