Six University of Louisville athletics teams are among the nation’s leaders within their sport in the most recent multiyear Academic Progress Rate (APR) data, the NCAA released on Wednesday.
UofL’s men’s and women’s basketball, football, men’s and women’s golf, and men’s tennis teams are among the top 10 percent in their respective sports in the latest APR, which measures academic eligibility, retention, and graduation for student-athletes. Five of the sports programs have a perfect 1000 score for the most recent four-year period from 2012-16, with football just short of that mark with a 988 score.
It is the Cardinals’ men’s basketball team’s fifth-consecutive year receiving an APR Public Recognition Award. The team has produced a perfect score the last four years. Over the four-year period of this multiyear APR report from 2012-16, Louisville’s academic success has come while the men’s basketball team won a combined 116 games, capturing the 2013 NCAA championship, and reaching the NCAA Sweet 16 on three occasions.
The men’s basketball team had a collective 3.18 GPA for the most recent 2016 fall semester and 11 of 15 Cardinals earned a 3.0 or better, including six with a 3.4 or higher GPA. The men’s basketball team has been around a collective 3.0 GPA for 17-consecutive semesters. Louisville placed a league-high six individuals on the 2017 ACC All-Academic Team.
The women’s basketball team is earning the award for the first time in its program’s history. The Cardinals, who have compiled five-straight semesters with at least a combined 3.0 grade point average, achieved a 3.16 in the fall of 2016. Ten of the team’s 15 student-athletes made the AD Honor Roll during the fall, including five Dean’s List honorees.
In addition to excelling in the classroom, the women’s basketball team has succeeded on the court under head coach Jeff Walz. From 2012-16, the Cardinals are 115-29 and boast a national runner-up finish, a trip to the Elite Eight, and a Sweet 16 appearance.
Football recorded its highest multi-year APR in program history in earning the award. The program saw 34 student-athletes earn a spot on the AD Honor Roll during the fall. More notably, from the fall of 2015 through the spring of 2016, 25 student-athletes graduated, including Aaron Epps, who earned his master’s degree. Five of those student-athletes competed during the 2016 campaign.
For the past academic year, the men’s golf team was one of 41 schools to earn GCAA (Golf Coaches Association) All-Academic honors, and each of the squad members were named to the AD Honor Roll for achieving a 3.0 or higher GPA. The team produced a collective 3.57 grade-point average for the 2015-16 academic year and posted a 3.37 GPA for the 2016 fall semester.
The women’s golf team is earning the award for the seventh-consecutive year. The group owns a 3.67 grade-point average, with all nine individuals achieving AD Honor Roll accolades and being named Red & Black Scholars (minimum 3.25 grade-point average). Eight student-athletes were named Dean’s List Scholars.
UofL’s men’s tennis team capped the 2015-16 season, with a 3.299 grade-point average, securing national recognition by earning an Intercollegiate Tennis Association Academic Team Award. Four players were named ITA Scholar-Athletes. In the spring of 2016, 10 of the 11 student-athletes were named to the AD Honor Roll, including ACC All-Academic Team and CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree Alex Gornet.
Multiyear APRs for the most-recent single-year figures from 2015-16 for all Division I sports teams will be released on May 10.
Ira Green
Asst. Sports Information Director