Four teams from Georgia Tech, including the football team, three from Georgia and one from Georgia State were honored by the NCAA for their superior academic performance.
In the NCAA’s annual reporting of teams’ Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores, those eight were among 12 in the state whose four-year APR scores were among the top 10 percent in their respective sports.
Tech coach Paul Johnson’s football team received recognition by posting another 983 out of a possible 1,000. The scores measure eligibility, retention and graduation. This year, the scores were a four-year average from the 2009-10 through the 2012-13 academic years.
Tech scored a 957 in the four-year period just before Johnson’s hire. Among the 13 FBS football teams honored Wednesday, four represented the ACC (Boston College, Clemson, Duke and Tech). The SEC had two teams, Missouri and South Carolina, although Missouri was in the Big 12 during the measurement period.
Tech’s men’s golf, women’s tennis and men’s swimming teams also were honored. The golf team, which is ranked No. 5 in the country by Golfstat, has been recognized all nine years that the NCAA has honored teams for APR and has scored a perfect 1,000 every year.
Georgia’s men’s golf team was recognized for the fifth consecutive year, women’s gymnastics its third and women’s swimming its second. The three are among the Bulldogs’ strongest teams. The swimmers have won back-to-back national championships, the gymnasts finished fifth in the NCAA championships and the golf team earned a No. 1 seed in an NCAA regional Monday. All three scored 1,000.
Georgia State’s men’s golf team, whose APR score has improved seven consecutive years, was honored for the first time with a 1,000 score. The Panthers won the Sun Belt Conference title and will play in the San Antonio regional with Georgia.
The Georgia Regents University (formerly Augusta State) women’s golf team, both golf teams at Kennesaw State and the Mercer women’s volleyball team also were honored.
The NCAA’s full APR report will be released May 14.
