Kansas Men’s Basketball Garners NCAA Public Recognition
ListMORE INFO: NCAA APR Public Recognition Awards Database
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The streak continued, on both the hardwood and in the classroom, for Kansas men’s basketball as Bill Self’s Jayhawks earned their eighth-straight NCAA Academic Performance Program (APP) Public Recognition Award after also securing their 11th-straight Big 12 Conference regular season championship during the 2014-15 school year. Kansas was one of 39 teams to be recognized for achieving Academic Progress Rate (APR) success in the top-10 percent of all NCAA Division I men’s basketball programs, the national governing body announced Wednesday.
Only six other NCAA Division I programs have as many NCAA APP Public Recognition Awards and the tally sits just short of the combined total number of recognitions by other Big 12 members (10) over the last 10 years. Kansas and Texas (7) – who both received recognition Wednesday – combine for 15 of current Big 12 members’ 18 total APR honors in men’s basketball, with West Virginia (2) and Baylor (1) also earning honors in years past.
The Jayhawks won their unprecedented 11th-straight Big 12 conference basketball title in 2014-15 and have the second-most NCAA Division I wins all-time, putting the program among the best on the court. KU’s run of eight APR Public Recognition Awards also puts the Jayhawks among the most respected academic institutions, like Belmont (10), Davidson (10), Holy Cross (10), Bucknell (9), Elon (8), Penn (8), Brown (7), Columbia (7), Princeton (7), and several others with seven or more recognitions.
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 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic years.
APRs for all teams, including access to postseason play and penalties for low-performing teams, will be released May 27. Kansas is the only Big 12 school to receive an NCAA Public Recognition Award in each of the 10 years of the program. The Jayhawks have had a total of 25 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.
Off the court, Kansas men’s basketball recently had senior Christian Garrett walk down Campanile Hill on graduation day along with former guard Tyrel Reed, who earned an advanced degree in physical therapy from the University of Kansas Medical School. On the court, the Jayhawks will represent the United States at the World University Games in South Korea and will welcome Team Canada to Sprint Center in Kansas City for a pair of exhibitions (June 23 and 26) as part of pre-tournament preparations. A special two-day ticket is available for lower level seating through the Sprint Center box office.
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