April 27, 2007
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The NCAA has honored seven Furman University athletic teams with public recognition awards for their latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores, the organization has announced.
The seven Furman teams cited include football, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's golf, women's tennis, women's indoor track, and women's outdoor track.
These teams posted multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports. The public recognition awards are part of the broad Division I academic reform effort.
A total of 839 teams received awards this year representing 217 Division I colleges and universities, or two-thirds of the 326 institutions that compete in NCAA Division I athletics. High-performing teams receiving awards posted APR scores ranging from 975 to a perfect 1,000, said NCAA President Myles Brand.
"These teams prove once again that student-athletes are students first, and many of them are excellent students," Brand said. "I want to personally congratulate these teams and their student-athletes who are working hard in their sport and in the classroom and setting a great example for all students."
Of the teams receiving awards for their latest academic performance are 366 men's and mixed teams and 473 women's teams. The men's sports with the highest number of teams garnering public recognition are golf (51), cross country (49) and tennis (40). The women's sports with the highest number of teams receiving awards are tennis (64), volleyball (54) and golf (52).
Furman's football team was among a group of only 26 NCAA Division I football programs to earn recognition.
With seven cited sports, Furman paced all South Carolina institutions, ahead of Wofford (4), South Carolina State (3), and College of Charleston (1).
Among Southern Conference schools, Furman trailed only Davidson, which had 11 of its league sponsored sports honored. Wofford, Elon (3), Appalachian State (2), and College of Charleston were the only other conference schools to earn sport citations.
An academic version of an RPI that rewards eligibility, retention and graduation, and penalizes academically under-performing teams, the APR, developed by the NCAA's Committee on Academic Performance as part the organization's move toward academic reform, offers a real-time snapshot of every team's academic performance at a given time.
Multi-year APR scores for all 6,110 Division I sports teams, including the teams receiving public recognition awards, will be announced Wednesday (May 2). The announcement also will include immediate and historical penalties for low-performing teams.
