MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia’s athletics teams recorded their highest-ever Academic Progress Rate score in climbing to 982 overall, one point above the NCAA average.
The latest APR report released Wednesday covered schools for a four-year average from 2012-13 through 2015-16.
“The continued increase in our scores is a testament to our academic support unit, our student-athletes and our coaching staffs,” said West Virginia athletics director Shane Lyons.
All WVU sports scored above the all-important 930 waterline under which teams are subject to practice limitations, reduced scholarships and postseason bans.
Four Mountaineers teams — men’s basketball, women’s basketball, women’s soccer and rifle — recorded perfect 1,000 scores. Bob Huggins’ program was the only men’s team in the Big 12 with a perfect score. (Texas ranked second at 989.)
Another six West Virginia sports were perfect for the 2015-16 academic year alone: Golf, men’s soccer, wrestling, cross country, tennis, and volleyball.
Football recorded WVU’s lowest four-year score at 940, which also ranked as the second-lowest among Power 5 football programs, above only Florida State’s 939. But to reiterate, any average above 930 puts a school in the clear. (Though of late the pecking order for 5-7 bowl teams has been determined by APR.)
The FBS multi-year average was 966 with no teams subject to penalties.
West Virginia’s football APR for 2015-16 alone was 922, which could damage the multi-year calculation going forward unless players make retroactive improvements.
Details on how the NCAA calculates APR:
• Each student-athlete receiving athletically related financial aid earns one point for staying in school and one point for being academically eligible.
• A team’s total points are divided by points possible and then multiplied by 1,000 to equal the team’s Academic Progress Rate.
Marshall’s APR marks
The Herd football team posted a 968 APR, while men’s basketball recorded a 960.
Marshall’s top scores included men’s cross-country and women’s swimming, each at a perfect 1,000. No Herd teams scored lower than 949.