Tennessee’s athletic department as a whole once again posted some impressive scores in their annual Academic Progress Rate assessment, including eight programs posting perfect scores for the 2016-17 academic year.
The NCAA released their updated numbers on Wednesday, and Tennessee’s men’s and women’s programs continued to impress. As for how the APR is calculated, UT describes it as such:
Every Division I sports team across the nation calculates its Academic Progress Rate each academic year, like a report card. Scholarship student-athletes each semester earn one point for remaining eligible and one point for staying in school or graduating. Data released for this multi-year cohort includes scores from the 2016-17, 2015-16, 2014-15 and 2013-14 academic years.
Four of Tennessee’s sports posted their best or tied their best four-year rolling average after this year’s numbers were released. Football (972), baseball (979), men’s golf (994), and women’s swimming & diving (994) all had their best or tied their best four-year average in the APR. Women’s basketball had their second-best four-year average with a 995 score.
Tennessee’s football team actually saw a drop in their single year score from the previous academic year. The 2015-16 academic year saw the football team earn a 978 score while the 2016-17 academic year saw a score of 964. But the program’s multi-year average remained the same at 972.
Eight programs — men’s cross country, men’s golf, women’s cross country, women’s golf, women’s soccer, women’s track, women’s tennis, and women’s volleyball — posted perfect scores of 1,000 for the 2016-17 academic year. Four programs — men’s cross country, women’s golf, women’s tennis (for the ninth consecutive year) and women’s track & field — posted perfect scores in their four-year average.
Five sports — men’s cross country, women’s golf, rowing, women’s tennis and men’s track & field — posted the best multi-year APR scores among other SEC schools in their respective sport.
“It’s a great time to be on Rocky Top,” Senior Associate Athletics Director & Assistant Provost Joe Scogin said via a release. “I could not be more excited about the APR performances that we continue to see. APR was created to provide a real-time snapshot of the culture of an athletic department. Seeing these championship level results shows how our coaches, administrators, Thornton staff, and student-athletes have invested in creating a culture of excellence every single day. I firmly believe that these results are just a by-product of the holistic student-athlete experience we strive to provide at UT. It is very special to see this work manifest itself in so many ways, one of which is the APR performances we’re seeing today.”
Tennessee Athletics Director Phillip Fulmer was also impressed by the performance of UT’s student-athletes.
“Seeing the way our young men and women take care of their academic responsibilities has been one of the things that has impressed me most during my first six months as AD,” Fulmer said. “This data serves as proof that our overall athletics program is thriving academically, and we are effectively preparing our student-athletes for success once they leave our campus. I again feel compelled to compliment our senior leadership team, our coaching staffs and our incredible Thornton Center staff, led by Dr. Joe Scogin. But the biggest stars are our student-athletes.”
Here are other APR highlights released by Tennessee:
- Football (972) tied its highest multiyear APR in program history with a 972, which was posted last year.
- Baseball (979) tied its highest multiyear APR in program history with a 979, which was set the previous year. Tennessee Baseball also moved up a spot in the conference rankings.
- Women’s Swimming & Diving (994) posted its highest multiyear APR in program history with a 994.
- Women’s Basketball (995) had its best multiyear APR in six years, tying its second highest rate of all time. Tennessee Women’s Basketball also moved up five spots to a tie for second in the conference rankings.
- Men’s Golf (993) tied its highest multiyear APR in program history with a 993, which was set two years ago.
