Men's Hoops, Volleyball Recognized by NCAA for APR

NCAA APR Public Recognition Award Database

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas is one of 40 NCAA Division I men’s basketball programs and 66 NCAA Division I women’s volleyball programs given Public Recognition Awards for achieving Academic Progress Rate (APR) success in the top-10 percent of its respective sports, the NCAA announced Wednesday.

On the hoops side, the recognition marks the Jayhawks’ seventh-straight under head coach Bill Self, a number matched by only 12 other NCAA Division I programs and nearly even with the combined number of recognitions by other Big 12 members (9) over the last nine years.   

Kansas won its 10th-straight Big 12 conference basketball title in 2013-14 and has the second-most NCAA Division I wins all-time, putting the program in the most elite company on the court. In the classroom, Kansas’ achievement has been equally excellent. KU’s run of seven APR Public Recognition Awards puts the Jayhawks in the same academic company as schools like Belmont (9), Holy Cross (9), Davidson (9), Bucknell (8), Penn (8), BYU (7), Brown (7), Columbia (7), Elon (7), Princeton (7), Navy (7), and Notre Dame (7).

Kansas and Texas (6) – who both received recognition Wednesday – combine for 13 of current Big 12 members’ 16 total APR Public Recognition Awards, with West Virginia (2) and Baylor (1) also earning honors in years past.

KU volleyball has posted back-to-back record-setting campaigns, including the program’s first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in December, and likewise has found success off the court while earning its first APR Public Recognition Award. The Jayhawks, under head coach Ray Bechard, are perennial contenders for KU’s CHAMPS Award and the top team GPA honor.

The APR provides a real-time look at a team’s academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation, providing a measure of each team’s academic performance. The most recent multi-year APRs are based on scores from the 2009-10 and 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 academic years.

APRs for all teams, including access to postseason play and penalties for low-performing teams, will be released May 14. Kansas is the only Big 12 schools to receive an NCAA Public Recognition Award in each of the nine years of the program. The Jayhawks have had a total of 24 teams honored with Public Recognition Awards (for multi-year academic success).

The four-year APR scores of all of KU’s 18 sports programs are expected to register well above the requisite score of 930 established by the NCAA for good standing.

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