April 24, 2008

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The NCAA has honored six Furman University athletic teams with public recognition awards for their latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores, the organization has announced.

The six Furman teams cited include football, men's golf, men's indoor track & field, men's outdoor track & field, women's basketball, and women's outdoor track & field.

These teams posted multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports.

A total of 712 teams received awards this year representing 192 Division I institutions. High-performing teams receiving awards posted APR scores ranging from 965 to a perfect 1,000, said NCAA President Myles Brand.

"Congratulations to these teams and their student-athletes for success in the classroom," Brand said. "They are setting a great example for their peers and future student-athletes, as well."

Of the teams receiving awards for their latest academic performance are 311 men's and mixed teams and 401 women's teams. The men's sports with the highest number of teams garnering public recognition are men's basketball and cross country (33 each) and golf (32). The women's sports with the highest number of teams receiving awards are tennis (46), volleyball (41) and golf (39).

Furman's football team was among a group of only 25 NCAA Division I football programs to earn recognition.

With six sports cited, Furman paced all South Carolina institutions.

An academic version of an RPI that rewards eligibility, retention and graduation, and penalizes academically under-performing teams, the APR, developed by the NCAA's Committee on Academic Performance as part the organization's move toward academic reform, offers a real-time snapshot of every team's academic performance at a given time.

Multi-year APR scores for all 6,272 Division I sports teams, including the teams receiving public recognition awards, will be announced May 6. The announcement also will include immediate and historical penalties for low-performing teams.