Four University of Louisville athletic teams are among the nation’s leaders within their sport in the most recent multiyear Academic Progress Rate (APR) data released by the NCAA.
UofL’s men’s basketball, men’s cross country, women’s golf and softball teams are among the top 10 percent in their respective sports in the latest APR, which measures academic eligibility, retention and graduation for student-athletes. All four sports programs have a perfect 1000 score for the most recent four-year period from 2010-14.
“Every coach strives for not only excellence on the court, but for excellence in academics,” said UofL Head Coach Rick Pitino. “The work that our academic staff does with our players is first class and our players are committed. (UofL Director of Academic Services) Anthony Wright and our student-athletes have done a great job in making us all very proud of their accomplishments.”
Over the four-year period of this multiyear APR report, Louisville’s academic success has come while winning a combined 121 games — the second-most in the nation in that stretch — and the Cardinals won the 2013 NCAA Championship and reached the 2012 Final Four.
While the University of Louisville men’s basketball team has performed well on the court, the Cardinals have excelled in the classroom as well. The Cardinals earned a collective 3.26 grade point average for the 2014-15 academic year and the team has produced around a 3.0 or better GPA for 14 consecutive semesters. Louisville placed a league-high seven individuals on the 21-member 2015 ACC All-Academic Team. Senior forward Wayne Blackshear was a Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-America second team selection, the Cardinals’ second such selection in the last three years (also Peyton Siva, 2013).
Notable academic achievement has become a regular occurrence for the Cardinals. Louisville also received an NCAA Public Recognition Award each of the last two years for ranking among the top 10 percent in men’s basketball in the APR. UofL’s men’s basketball team earned its league’s last four Team Academic Excellence Awards, which recognizes the highest collective grade-point averages in each of the conference’s sports (2014 American Athletic Conference, 2011-13 Big East).
Louisville’s three additional perfect APR teams have excelled academically as well. UofL’s women’s golf team, which capped the year at its second-consecutive NCAA Regional, produced a collective 3.72 grade-point average this year. Between the two semesters, the Cardinals accounted for 16 Dean’s List honors, and Haley Andreas, Emily Haas, and Sara Karlsson each earned their bachelor’s degrees in the spring of 2015 while Katie Petrino graduated in 2014. It is the fifth straight year that the women’s golf team has produced a perfect 1000 APR score to rank among the nation’s top programs.
The Cardinals’ softball team posted a program-best combined 3.382 GPA during the 2014-15 academic year, including a record 3.425 GPA for the 2015 spring semester as 20 student-athletes earned Athletic Director’s Honor Roll status. All six seniors from the final year of the APR report in 2014 team have graduated.
Four members of Louisville’s men’s cross country team earned spots on the 2014 All-ACC Academic Cross Country team. Runners Edwin Kibichiy and Ernest Kibet both received U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic honors on Wednesday and both were USTFCCCA All-America selections.
Multiyear APRs and the most-recent single-year figures from 2013-14 for all Division I sports teams will be released on May 27.
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