ATHLETICS UA football, men’s basketball grad rates low in SEC
Arkansas’ football and men’s basketball graduation success rates (GSR) were the lowest in the Southeastern Conference for players who entered school from 2003 to 2006, according to NCAA statistics released Thursday.
The Razorbacks’ football team had a graduation rate of 54 percent over that time, while the basketball team had a graduation rate of 10 percent. Those numbers reflect players recruited by former football coach Houston Nutt and basketball coach Stan Heath, but whose careers included the coaching tenures of Bobby Petrino and John Pelphrey.
Arkansas’ basketball program had the third-lowest rate in the NCAA over that time, ahead of Connecticut (8 percent) and Centenary (0 percent). The program was hit particularly hard when nine players left following the 2007-2008 season, Pelphrey’s first, without graduating. Some have since returned to complete their degrees.
That class set the Razorbacks’ academic progress rate (APR) scores into a whirlwind in following years. Arkansas’ 2007-2008 APR score was 755, well below the NCAA benchmark of 925.
The NCAA penalized the Razorbacks with the loss of a scholarship as a result of that score, though APR scores have increased in recent years. In the latest reporting period, Arkansas had a score of 977 for the 2011-2012 school year.
Arkansas’ football program has remained above the NCAA benchmark for APR despite the low graduation rates.
The Razorbacks’ 19 athletics programs had a cumulative graduation rate of 74 percent, a record for the university. Arkansas’ all-sports graduation rate has increased each of the last five years.
It is expected to continue increasing in future years. A total of 94 current or former athletes graduated during the 2012-2013 academic year. - Matt Jones
BASKETBALL UCA’s Duever named to Southland first team Central Arkansas senior center Courtney Duever was named to the Southland Conference preseason first team, the conference announced Thursday. Duever, 6-1, was a third-team selection last season. She was second in scoring and rebounding for UCA last season, averaging 13.6 points and 8.8 rebounds. Duever is joined on the first team by Stephen F. Austin forward Porsha Roberts, Nicholls State guard K.K. Babin, Southeastern Louisiana forward Aja Gibson and Northwestern (La.) State guard Janelle Perez. The second team consists of Lamar forward Dominique Edwards and guard Gia Ayers, McNeese State forward Cecilia Okoye, Oral Roberts center Sarah Shelton, Nicholls State forward LiAnn McCarthy and Stephen F. Austin forward Antoinette Carter. The Sugar Bears open the 2013-2014 season Nov. 8 against Alcorn State at the Farris Center in Conway.
Sports, Pages 25 on 10/25/2013