Tech, Georgia pass NCAA academic test

By Tim Tucker

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia and Georgia Tech got good grades from the NCAA on Wednesday.

All sports teams at both schools fared well enough in the latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) statistics to avoid penalties.

The APR is an NCAA-designed measure that assesses the eligibility, retention and graduation of athletes over a four-year period. Teams that score below 925 on a 1,000-point scale can draw penalties, including loss of scholarships. The figures released Wednesday were based on the 2005-06 through 2008-09 academic years.

Georgia's football program posted an APR of 973, second best to Vanderbilt's 975 in the SEC. Tech had a football APR of 967, tying Boston College and Clemson for third best in the ACC behind Duke's 983 and Miami's 978.

The numbers were not as good in men's basketball. Georgia's APR of 944 ranked fifth among SEC teams, and Tech's 908 ranked last in the ACC. Despite scoring below 925, Tech's basketball program was not penalized because no player left school ineligible in 2008-09.

At Kennesaw State, the men's basketball team scored an 883 and had one scholarship taken away, while the men's indoor track team scored 919 and lost 31/100ths of a scholarship. Schools generally give partial scholarships in track.

Kennesaw State athletics director Dave Waples attributed the low scores to athletes leaving in the midst of the school's transition from Division II to Division I.

"If this were an academic situation, I'd be upset, but it's more of a personnel situation," Waples said. "We're trying to eventually reach some stability, but at this point in time, we've got a lot of kids coming in and, for whatever reason, leaving."

Georgia was particularly pleased with its strong showing in football and SEC-leading scores in women's basketball, men's golf and gymnastics. Georgia had perfect 1,000 scores in women's basketball and men's golf.

Tech noted that its football program improved its APR for the third consecutive year and that its golf, volleyball and cross-country teams had perfect  scores. Although the APR is a four-year measure, Tech said its men's basketball and football teams showed big improvement in the most recent year covered. For 2008-09, the Yellow Jackets had scores of 953 in men's basketball and 993 in football.

Nationally, 137 teams in various sports, including seven from BCS-level conferences,  drew penalties. Only two schools from power conferences were penalized in football or basketball: Colorado lost one scholarship in men's basketball and up to four in football, while Syracuse lost up to two in men's basketball.

Staff writers Doug Roberson and Ken Sugiura contributed to this article.