Murray State University Athletics
Two Racer Teams Garner NCAA APR Public Recognition Awards
6/24/2013 3:57:00 PM | Men's Golf, Women's Basketball
The Murray State University women's basketball and men's golf teams have received NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) Public Recognition Awards for the 2011-12 academic year, the governing body announced earlier this month.
The APR is a term-by-term measure of eligibility and retention for Division I student-athletes that was developed as an early indicator of eventual graduation rates. The APR includes eligibility, retention and graduation in the calculation and provides a clear picture of the academic culture in each sport.
The APR awards two points each term to student-athletes who meet academic eligibility standards and who remain with the institution. A team's APR is the total points earned by the team at a given time, divided by the total points possible and multiplied by 1,000. It is based off of a four-year sample with this year's calculation coming from 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years. High-performing teams, those in the top 10 percent of their respective sport, receive public recognition awards by posting APR scores ranging from 978 to a perfect 1,000.
This marks the first award for women's basketball and head coach Rob Cross and the second for men's golf and head coach Eddie Hunt, having previously won for the 2010-11 academic year. The women's basketball team is the sixth team at Murray State to win the award, while men's golf is now the third MSU squad to win multiple awards. This also marks fourth year in a row that a Racer team was recognized for APR excellence by the NCAA and the fifth time in the eight-year history of the award.
"We are tremendously proud of these two teams for this outstanding accomplishment," said Director of Athletics Allen Ward. "Coach Cross and Coach Hunt continue to have great success on the field of competition, but this award proves that they are successful in the classroom as well. They have truly embraced our 'Four Years. Two Goals' concept by ensuring we continue to produce high-quality student-athletes that will do great things beyond Murray State here, thanks to their degree.
Senior Associate Athletics Director Matt Kelly echoed Ward's sentiments, "These are two long-time coaches at Murray State that have a great understanding of what we try to accomplish as a department on a day-to-day basis. Over the years they have consistently turned out student-athletes who are leaders on the field or links, in the classroom and in the community. We are extremely proud of these two coaches and their continued commitment to the student-athlete."
Conference-wide a league-record 23 teams from eight different institutions were honored this year. The Murray State women's basketball and men's golf teams were just one of two teams in their respective sport to be honored league-wide.
"This award is indicative of the commitment our program and Murray State University has to ensuring our student-athletes stay on track to graduate," said women's basketball head coach Rob Cross. "At MSU, academics truly does come first and with the leadership of Allen Ward, Matt Kelly and their staff, our student-athletes have had tremendous academic success to go along with their successes on the court. This is the first such award the women's basketball program has received here at Murray State and it just shows the type of student-athletes we have been able to bring into the program over the past five years."
In total, 976 teams representing 268 of 346 Division I colleges and universities, placed at least one team on the top APR list. That number is up considerably from last year's mark of 954 teams from 263 schools. For the second consecutive year, Dartmouth led the nation with 23 awards, followed by Brown with 20 and Bucknell with 19.
The APR is a term-by-term measure of eligibility and retention for Division I student-athletes that was developed as an early indicator of eventual graduation rates. The APR includes eligibility, retention and graduation in the calculation and provides a clear picture of the academic culture in each sport.
The APR awards two points each term to student-athletes who meet academic eligibility standards and who remain with the institution. A team's APR is the total points earned by the team at a given time, divided by the total points possible and multiplied by 1,000. It is based off of a four-year sample with this year's calculation coming from 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years. High-performing teams, those in the top 10 percent of their respective sport, receive public recognition awards by posting APR scores ranging from 978 to a perfect 1,000.
This marks the first award for women's basketball and head coach Rob Cross and the second for men's golf and head coach Eddie Hunt, having previously won for the 2010-11 academic year. The women's basketball team is the sixth team at Murray State to win the award, while men's golf is now the third MSU squad to win multiple awards. This also marks fourth year in a row that a Racer team was recognized for APR excellence by the NCAA and the fifth time in the eight-year history of the award.
"We are tremendously proud of these two teams for this outstanding accomplishment," said Director of Athletics Allen Ward. "Coach Cross and Coach Hunt continue to have great success on the field of competition, but this award proves that they are successful in the classroom as well. They have truly embraced our 'Four Years. Two Goals' concept by ensuring we continue to produce high-quality student-athletes that will do great things beyond Murray State here, thanks to their degree.
Senior Associate Athletics Director Matt Kelly echoed Ward's sentiments, "These are two long-time coaches at Murray State that have a great understanding of what we try to accomplish as a department on a day-to-day basis. Over the years they have consistently turned out student-athletes who are leaders on the field or links, in the classroom and in the community. We are extremely proud of these two coaches and their continued commitment to the student-athlete."
Conference-wide a league-record 23 teams from eight different institutions were honored this year. The Murray State women's basketball and men's golf teams were just one of two teams in their respective sport to be honored league-wide.
"This award is indicative of the commitment our program and Murray State University has to ensuring our student-athletes stay on track to graduate," said women's basketball head coach Rob Cross. "At MSU, academics truly does come first and with the leadership of Allen Ward, Matt Kelly and their staff, our student-athletes have had tremendous academic success to go along with their successes on the court. This is the first such award the women's basketball program has received here at Murray State and it just shows the type of student-athletes we have been able to bring into the program over the past five years."
In total, 976 teams representing 268 of 346 Division I colleges and universities, placed at least one team on the top APR list. That number is up considerably from last year's mark of 954 teams from 263 schools. For the second consecutive year, Dartmouth led the nation with 23 awards, followed by Brown with 20 and Bucknell with 19.
Indiana State VS Murray State | MVC Baseball Tournament | Game Highlights
Friday, May 22
Evansville VS Murray State | Women's Basketball Game Highlights
Saturday, February 28
Head Coach Rechelle Turner | Racer Basketball | 2/26/26 Post Game Press Conference
Friday, February 27
Thomas & Pena | Racer Basketball | 2/26/26 Post Game Press Conference
Friday, February 27
