Hornet student-athletes place 2nd in SWAC’s All-Academic Team
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (bamastatesports.com) – It was another year of high achievement for Alabama State’s student-athletes.
As reported by the Southwestern Athletic Conference on Wednesday, the 2015-16 All-Academic Team recognized over 1,050 student-athletes from the conference’s 10 member institutions who achieved academic success during the previous academic school year.
In order to qualify for the team, student-athletes had to maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better. These individuals truly define what it is to be a “student-athlete”.
Alabama State University achieved the second highest total in the SWAC with 152 student-athletes reaching the 3.0 GPA cut off.
“We’re very excited about the progress of our student-athletes in the classroom,” said Alabama State Director of Athletic Melvin Hines.
“We aspire to be champions in the classroom and in the field of competition. Our goal is to strive and be the best in everything that we do.”
Put into effect in 2003 as part of an ambitious academic reform effort in Division I, the Academic Progress Rate (APR) holds institutions accountable for the academic progress of their student-athletes through a team-based metric that accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete for each academic term.
Currently, teams must maintain a four-year average APR of 930 or a two-year average APR of 940 average to participate in NCAA championships. In 2015-16 and beyond, teams must keep a four-year average APR of 930 to compete in championships.
While the APR is intended as an incentive-based approach, it does come with a progression of penalties for teams that under-perform academically over time.
In yet another sign of progress within the conference, eight of the league’s member institutions had at 100 student-athletes represented on the list, as opposed to seven schools achieving the feat last year.
The All-Academic Team is representative of the SWAC’s progress, with the increases in training and focus shift towards the academic success of its student-athletes.
