Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State Excels in APR Ratings
6/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | General
June 15, 2010
FRESNO, Calif. - The news keeps getting better for the Fresno State Department of Athletics' academic accomplishments. The latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) data released by the NCAA today reflected scores on the Fresno State campus not only continue to rise, but by and large have surpassed goals set forth by the department just a few years ago. The NCAA APR released today represents data from the 2005-06 academic year through 2008-09.
For the first time since the NCAA adopted the APR program, all of Fresno State's sports programs have met the NCAA minimum score of 925 and none of the sports programs are subject APR penalties.
This is especially outstanding news for the men's basketball program, which started with an NCAA low score of 611 in 2003-04. The latest multi-year rate score of 928 is just three percentage points behind the national average of 931 for the sport. It was a jump of 37 points over last year's announced score. Under Steve Cleveland's watch, the Bulldogs have gone from the worst in the nation to one of the best in the CSU system.
"We are certainly pleased with the progress of our student-athletes," said Cleveland. "The efforts put forth by the Athletics staff and many members of the campus community to rectify the historical academic challenges of the program have been tremendous. Many years of hard work are being rewarded with the latest data from the NCAA. We have improved leaps and bounds and I expect with the academic foundation and culture that has been established we will work towards continued positive growth in our academic progress."
Department-wide, the improvements are significant. Fresno State's annual rate scores have improved to 976 from 914 in 2005-06. The highest score, a perfect 1,000, was attained by five teams.
Fresno State has set higher goals than the minimal NCAA standard. Each sport is expected to reach the NCAA average for public schools in the respective sport. Thus far, five sports programs are at or above that level: baseball, football, women's golf, soccer and women's tennis. In addition to men's basketball, other sports that are close (within three percentage points) of reaching the NCAA public school average are: women's basketball, women's cross country and volleyball.
The Bulldog baseball team also had an incredible improvement in APR scores up to 955, nine points higher than Division I public schools (946) for the sport. The team showed a 31-point improvement from last year's data. In 2008 when the Dogs won the NCAA College World Series, that team earned every APR eligibility point possible. Of NCAA championship winning teams since 2000, only Miami (Fla.), Texas and Rice have higher APR scores.
"Our student-athletes have worked hard," said Dr. Susan Gutkind, Assistant Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Services. "Our coaches have made tough decisions. Overall, this has been a department effort and it's great to see it paying off. Most importantly, everyone realizes now that we've come this far, we need to keep it going. It'll be nice next year when that 2005-06 data rolls off. We'll have an even better picture of how well our teams are doing."
2010* Fresno State APR Multiyear Rates by Sport (2009 multi-year rate)
Baseball, 955 (924)
Men's Basketball, 928 (891)
Men's Cross Country, 967 (950)
Football, 946 (948)
Men's Golf, 925 (925)
Men's Tennis, 927 (912)
Men's Outdoor Track, 930 (926)
Women's Basketball, 957 (944)
Women's Cross Country, 968 (951)
Women's Golf, 978 (986)
Lacrosse, 1000 (NA/does not have a four-year cohort)
Soccer, 975 (977)
Softball, 945 (928)
Swimming & Diving, 969 (NA/does not have a four-year cohort)
Women's Tennis, 984 (976)
Women's Indoor Track, 939 (937)
Women's Outdoor Track, 939 (935)
Volleyball, 970 (962)
*The 2010 figures are calculated from four years of data ending in the 2008-09 school year.
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