INDIANAPOLIS — Alabama and Louisville are performing almost as well in the classroom as they do on the playing field.
On Wednesday, the reigning national champs in the two most visible college sports made the NCAA’s honor roll for academic success. Louisville was one of 35 men’s basketball teams to score between 978 and 1,000 on the annual Academic Progress Rate. Alabama was one of 13 Bowl Subdivision schools to make the cut.
In all, 976 teams made the most recent list that covered the four-year period ending in 2011-12. Alabama won the national championship then, too, and Louisville reached the Final Four. Actual scores for each school will be released later.
The most telling signal of progress may be this: Nine national champs were honored Wednesday. The other winners were Alabama in men’s golf, Duke in men’s lacrosse, Indiana in men’s soccer, Georgia in men’s swimming, Michigan in men’s gymnastics, Oregon in women’s indoor track, Texas in women’s volleyball and Yale in men’s ice hockey,
The APR is billed as a real-time academic measure of every Division I team.
Each athlete receives one point per semester for remaining academically eligible and another point each semester for remaining at that school or graduating. Critics contend the numbers merely illustrate the growing disparity between the haves, who can afford fancy academic facilities and large support staffs, and the have-nots, who lack the means to give their athletes more help.
The latest list includes college athletes excelling in both areas.
