NCAA Applauds Ducks for APR Success

EUGENE -- The University of Oregon’s men’s basketball and women’s golf teams have been honored for posting academic performances that rank among the best in the country in their respective sports as it relates to their latest multi-year Academic Progress Rate scores, according to data released by the NCAA Thursday.

The Ducks’ two programs were among 712 of the 6,272 Division I sports programs who were recognized for their outstanding academic achievement by finishing among the top 10 percent in the country in APR scores in their respective sports.

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 formula includes the athletes’ eligibility, retention and graduation in the calculation.

The multi-year data encompasses the academic progress of student-athletes during the 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 academic years.

Oregon’s women’s golf team posted a perfect score of 1000, indicating that every player on that team during that four-year span had not only remained eligible but graduated from the University. It was one of four women’s golf teams in the Pacific-10 Conference to be included among those honored by the NCAA.

The Ducks’ men’s basketball team was the only squad in the Pac-10 to receive the award after accumulating a score of 975. The basketball team’s score will be further enhanced in next year’s report with the graduation of five players from the 2007-08 squad.

"This is certainly a great honor for two of our programs and the student-athletes involved to be singled out for the hard work they obviously have invested to make this public recognition possible," Oregon Athletics Director Pat Kilkenny. "Too often the public attention focuses solely on the results from the courts and playing fields. I feel the kids deserve the same attention for their success in the classrooms."