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Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Gophers' scores improve in classroom

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Needing to improve in the classroom to avoid losing scholarships, the University of Minnesota men's basketball and football teams did just that, according to a report issued by the NCAA on Tuesday.

The Gophers' two biggest money-makers had come under scrutiny last year after their Academic Progress Report scores registered below the NCAA's mandated cut line of 925.

But the football team improved eight points this year to 927 to get above the line.

The basketball team had the biggest jump of any athletic program at the school. It improved 23 points to 910. Because Tubby Smith's team did not have any player leave the program for academic reasons, the team did not lose any scholarships.

``We continue to be pleased with the positive strides our student-athletes are making in terms of academic progress,'' athletic director Joel Maturi said in a statement issued by the school. ``The scores in the latest APR report from the NCAA are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our student-athletes, coaches and academic center staff.''

A year ago, the outlook wasn't as positive.

The APR is billed as a four-year snapshot of each team's performance in the classroom.

The Gophers scored well — and continue to score well — in some of the ``non-revenue'' sports like women's cross country, women's tennis and women's track and field.

But the marquee programs — football and men's basketball — both scored below the 925 cut line, with the hoopsters managing a score of 887. Because the APR system was only three years old at the time, the school was spared any penalties by ``confidence boundaries'' that essentially gave the teams one more year to show marked improvement.

The system turned four years old this year, meaning those confidence boundaries will no longer be around.

A look at the rest of the Big Ten shows the Gophers ranked in the bottom third of the conference in both sports. The average Big Ten score in men's basketball was 937.4, with the Gophers ranked eighth, ahead of Purdue (894), Indiana (899) and Ohio State (909).

In football, the average score was 943, with the Gophers' 927 good for ninth in the conference, ahead of only Purdue (920) and Michigan State (926).

But with the improvement by both programs, especially the significant jump made by the basketball team, the Gophers are confident they are headed in the right direction.

``There is always room for improvement and we will continue to follow our strategic plan for raising our student-athlete retention and graduation rates even further, but the trend right now is very positive,'' Maturi said.

Even moreso when looking at the athletic department as a whole. According to the report, 19 of the school's 25 teams had APR scores above the NCAA average for their respective sports, with 18 scoring better than 965, which is considered a ``high'' score.

Keeping with the national trend, the women performed better than the men, with the women's cross country, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field receiving Public Recognition awards from the NCAA for ranking in the top 10 percent of their sports.

The scores were based on academic performance from 2003-07. Athletes earn one point for remaining academically eligible each semester and another point each semester they remain at the school, accumulating a maximum of four points each year.

Other Division I programs around the state also scored well enough to avoid any penalties, including St. Cloud State men's hockey (944), and women's hockey (971); Minnesota State, Mankato men's hockey (948) and women's hockey (948) and Minnesota Duluth men's hockey (951) and women's hockey (946).