USF football improves APR; avoids scholarship losses

Posted Feb 10, 2009 by Brett McMurphy

Updated Feb 10, 2009 at 11:51 PM

The University of South Florida football program avoided loss of scholarships by meeting the required Academic Progress Report score, but the USF baseball team lost 1.27 scholarships for not meeting APR requirements.

USF’s football team scored a 917 when the last figures were released in May. Scores below 925 are subject to loss of scholarships, but the school received an appeal from the NCAA contingent on scoring at least 937 on a 1,000-point scale in the next grading period.

USF associate AD Bill McGillis said USF scored at least 937, which is based on academic performance and retention from the previous three school years. However, McGillis refused to disclose USF’s score.

Because the baseball team did not meet the required APR minimum scores in 2006-07, it lost 1.17 - or 10 percent - of its 11.7 scholarships. USF also lost another 0.10 scholarships for the 2007-08 season, but the school decided to incur the overall loss of 1.27 scholarships for this season to allow the Bulls to start 2009-10 with a clean slate, McGillis said.

The Bulls will have the maximum 11.7 baseball scholarships in 2009-10, he said.

The baseball team’s low APR scores were because of the high turnover rate of players when Lelo Prado became coach last season. In the fall, USF’s baseball team had a 3.2 GPA, the highest of any USF male sport.

“When I came here, I knew there would be turnover, but we’ve raised the bar here academically,” Prado said. “You can see what we’ve done academically.”

The NCAA’s APR calculation measures eligibility and retention of student-athletes and is based on reforms the NCAA adopted several years ago to improve the success and graduation rates of student-athletes.