All 24 IU athletic teams exceed APR standard

While the recent release of the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate report spelled doom for some high-profile schools, it helped prove the academic excellence of IU student-athletes.

All 24 IU athletic teams exceeded the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate standard of 900 for 2010-2011, while seven IU programs received a perfect APR score of 1,000 for the 2010-2011 academic year.

“I want to congratulate our student-athletes, coaches and staff for embracing this high priority for our department,” IU Vice President and Director of Athletics Fred Glass  said in a release. “These are successes of which all of Hoosier Nation should be proud of.”

IU men’s basketball program has improved from 866 when Head Coach Tom Crean arrived in 2008, to a cumulative multiyear score of 952. The team recorded a perfect score of 1,000 for the 2010-2011 academic year, the most recent year of APR data.

The other six IU programs to receive a perfect score for 2010-2011 include men’s cross country, men’s golf, men’s swimming and diving, women’s swimming and diving, women’s tennis and water polo.

For most teams, this is the ninth year of APR data. The NCAA also released multiyear APR scores, which averages scores from 2007-2012. IU Men’s golf and women’s tennis both have perfect APR scores for that time period.

The APR is a real-time measure of Division 1 student-athlete academic progress based on program eligibility, retention, and graduation rates. Some schools’ programs, such as the Connecticut men’s basketball program, scuffled.

The Huskies — the 2011 NCAA basketball champions — are one of 15 teams to be banned from postseason competition because they did not meet a certain APR score.

Men’s golf, women’s tennis and both track and field teams have the highest respective scores in the Big Ten.

On June 14, the NCAA recognized the baseball, men’s golf and women’s tennis teams for scoring in the top 10 percent.

“I want to congratulate the baseball, men’s golf and women’s tennis student-athletes for their outstanding work in the classroom, and commend the leadership of Head Coaches Tracy Smith, Mike Mayer and Lin Loring for continuing to reinforce academic achievement as a top priority,” Glass said in a release.

The NCAA publicly recognized 954 teams for the 2011-2012 academic year, including 560 women’s teams and 394 men’s or mixed teams.

“These teams prove that it is possible to not only balance academic and athletic commitment, as most student-athletes do; but to exceed standards and post outstanding academic scores,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said in a release. “The drive and determination shown in the classroom and on the field by these men and women represent what it means to be an NCAA student-athlete.”