UCLA has the 32nd highest Academic Progress Rate among the 68 teams in the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, continuing its improvement, according to a study released Monday.
UC Irvine, the other Los Angeles area team in the field, was among four teams tied at 42nd with a rate of 958, according to “Keeping Score When It Counts: Graduation Rates and Academic Progress Rates for the 2014 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament Teams,” a study conducted by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida, based on figures reported by the NCAA.
UCLA’s rate was 969. It had a 951 rate in 2014, tying Louisiana-Lafayette for 46th, and 942 in 2013, the 11th lowest in the tournament.
“Our student-athletes face rigorous challenges both in the field of competition and in the classroom,” said UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero.
“By embracing those challenges at UCLA, one of the strongest academic environments in the entire country, they have shown that if you set your mind to something, it can be accomplished. Without their hard work and perseverance, as well as the high level of dedication and professionalism displayed by our staff members in academic support services, this achievement would not be possible.”
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from UC Irvine.
There were five teams with a perfect scores of 1,000 — Belmont, Indiana, Kansas, Louisville, and Texas. Kansas was the only team with a perfect score last year.
Duke, Northern Iowa and Notre Dame all had rates of 995. The rest of the top 10 consisted of Lafayette (994) and Davidson (990).
Pre-tournament favorite Kentucky was 11th at 989.
Coastal Carolina had the lowest rate, 910. The rest of the bottom 10 consisted of Arkansas (937); North Carolina and Robert Morris (938); San Diego State and SMU (939); Boise State and Wyoming (941); St. John’s (942); and Oregon and Virginia (945).
Connecticut had the lowest rate last year, 897. It went on to win the championship. The Huskies failed to qualify for this year’s tournament.
The Academic Progress Rate was created by the NCAA in 2004 in an effort to more accurately measure student-athletes’ progress and improve graduation rates.
The rate is a four-year average of academic performance that rewards student-athletes for remaining eligible as well as continuing education at the same school. Every player receiving an athletic scholarship earns one retention point for staying in school and one eligibility point for being academically eligible. A team’s total points are divided by points possible and then multiplied by 1,000 to determine the Academic Progress Rate.
— City News Service