Clemson sports posts strong APR statistics

by CU Athletic Communications - Tue May 24 16:54:48 GMT-04:00 2011

Clemson, SC—Ten of Clemson’s 19 sports programs (five in each gender) recorded their highest Academic Progress Report scores on record, including the Clemson football team, men’s and women’s basketball teams according to statistics released by the NCAA on Tuesday. All 19 programs posted scores of at least 945 and 13 of the 19 were over 975.

The APR measures classroom performance of student-athletes on every Division I team. Teams scoring below the 925 cutline can face penalties. This year's data covers 2006-07 through 2009-10 academic years. A perfect score is 1,000.

The national average APR number for all athletes jumped three points to 970 in the latest report. Baseball (959) and men's basketball players (945) each had a five-point increase while the national football average (946) improved by two points. Clemson was well above the average in each of those areas.

“We are very pleased with our APR scores,” said Clemson Athletic Director Terry Don Phillips. “This is an area of emphasis with all of our coaches throughout the year and it is obvious they have put an emphasis on making progress towards a degree with their student-athletes. I would like to thank all the staff at Vickery Hall as well for their hard work in this area.

“I am especially proud of the consistent improvement we have seen in our scores. We have had teams improved their scores for five years in a row.”

Clemson was not penalized in any sport this year, and has never been subject to a penalty since the NCAA began compiling APR scores in 2004.

Clemson’s football program had a 977 APR score for the 2009-10 data, a cohort of four years that end with the student-athletes who were on the team for the 2009-10 academic year. It marked the fifth consecutive year that Clemson has had an increase in its APR score.

Only Clemson and Miami (FL) have seen an increase in APR scores among league football programs each of the last five years. Clemson ranked third in APR scores among ACC football programs for the 2009-10 cohort, trailing only Duke and Miami (FL).

Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney had a personal APR score of 993 for the 2009-10 academic year, tied for the highest in the ACC with Duke Coach David Cutcliffe and tied for fourth in the nation. Last week, the NCAA announced that Clemson ranked in the top 10 percent in the nation in APR scores among FBS (football bowl subdivision) schools.

The highest APR score by a Clemson program was the volleyball program, which posted a 995 figure. The Clemson men’s golf team was best among the male programs with a 989 score.

The Clemson men’s basketball program had its highest score on record with a 964 figure, and it marked the fifth consecutive year it had increased. Coach Brad Brownell has had five perfect seasons (1000) at three different school in his career when it comes to APR scores. The women’s basketball program, coached by Itoro Coleman also had its all-time high APR score with a 978 figure.

Also recording their all-time APR scores were the men’s cross country (986), men’s soccer (986), men’s tennis (987), women’s soccer (987), women’s indoor track (980), women’s outdoor track (980) and volleyball (995) teams.

Clemson APR Scores for 2009-10 Cohort

Baseball 977

Men’s Basketball *964

Women’s Basketball *978

Men’s Cross Country *986

Women’s Cross Country 986

Football *977

Golf 989

Rowing 977

Men’s Soccer *986

Women’s Soccer *987

Men’s Swimming 968