May 6, 2008

Indianapolis, IN --- Idaho State University's athletic teams had a solid showing in the latest NCAA Academic Program Report, including ISU's football program, which went from receiving a public warning in 2007 to being cited just one year later for "demonstrated academic improvement". The only warning on the report was a first-year historical warning for the men's tennis program.

The APR began with the 2003-04 academic year, and 2006-07 (which is the last year for the basis of the data on the current report) was the fourth year that data was collected. A sports' APR score is a mathematical formula that establishes two points per semester for every scholarship student-athlete on a roster, one for retention and one for eligibility. A student-athlete that stays in school and stays academically eligible receives two out of two points for a semester. The APR score is figured by dividing the points earned by the scholarship athletes, divided by the number of total points available, and then multiplied by 1000. A score of 925 was established by the NCAA, and sports that fall under that score are subject to penalties, including the loss of scholarships if they have "0-for-2" student-athletes, which are students who are ineligible and leave the school.

Eleven of ISU's sports scored a 925 or higher, highlighted by women's tennis, which scored an institution best 975, and women's soccer at 971. Both cross country teams scored high as well, as the men's team scored a 967, and women's team scored a 961. Other sports scoring above a 925 included women's basketball (960), women's golf (954) volleyball (941), women's track (941 indoor, 934 outdoor), men's track (932 outdoor, 928 indoor).

Five of ISU's 16 sports did not meet the 925 benchmark, but only men's tennis was given a public warning. The softball program scored a 922, but they have only one-year of data available. The men's golf team scored a 917, but due to a limited squad size, their score was adjusted (a program must have 30 student-athletes over a four-year span). However, the men's golf team was eliminated in mid-April.

Two marquee sports, football and men's basketball, both missed the 925 mark, but both avoided penalties. In men's basketball, the team scored a 904, improving from their score of 892 last year. The NCAA noted that the men's basketball team's academic progress was performing better than the institution's general student body. Last year, the men's basketball team took a one-year scholarship reduction, but the team is back to full strength for the 2007-08 season.

Football raised their score from an 870 in 2005-06 to an 892 this year, earning their citation from the NCAA for demonstrated academic improvement. Football's academic improvement stemmed from scoring a 938 for just the 2006-07 year, a jump of 73 points from the 2005-06 season. Men's basketball made a similar leap, scoring a single-year total of 900 for the 2006-07 academic year, a jump of 35 points.

The only sport cited by the NCAA and given a public warning was the men's tennis program, which scored a 898. While they were not subject to contemporaneous penalties due to academic progress was performing better than the institution's general student body, they were given a public notice for a historical penalty. The men's tennis team received a "Historical Penalty - Occasion One". The historical penalty structure has a cumulative effect that is applied each year as a team progresses through the structure, and each year a team fails the historical penalty review, another stage of penalties is added.