April 22, 2009
Fairfax, Va (April 22, 2009)--Three George Mason teams have earned a Public Recognition Award from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for earning high scores in the latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) compilation.
Men's basketball, softball and women's tennis all earned four-year APR scores in the top 10 percent nationally for their respective sport through the 2007-08 academic year. The most recent APR scores are multi-year rates based on the scores from the 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 academic years. The public recognition awards are part of the overall Division I academic reform effort.
"These awards are a tremendous credit to the hard work and dedication by our student-athletes, coaches, and academic support services staff," Director of Athletics Tom O'Connor said. "We are proud of the academic achievement and congratulate them on the recognition that they have earned for themselves and the University."
Mason's men's basketball is one of 37 NCAA D1 men's basketball programs, out of 331, to receive this award, and one of four representatives from the Colonial Athletic Association, including Drexel, VCU and UNC-Wilmington. Men's basketball has increased its score in each of the four years to reach the score of 995.
The women's tennis program earned their fifth consecutive APR recognition award with a perfect score of 1,000 and women's softball scored a 992.
The APR provides a real-time look at a team's academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete. The APR includes eligibility, retention, and graduation in the calculation and provides a clear picture of the academic culture in each sport.
The 767 teams publicly recognized this year for high achievement represent 11.9 percent of the approximately 6,484 Division I teams. The list includes 448 women's teams and 319 men's or mixed squads.
Last year, a total of 712 teams were recognized. The number of teams in some sports may exceed 10 percent depending on how many achieved perfect 1,000 APR scores.
