Alabama State University programs in football, men's basketball, baseball and volleyball, have been banned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for the 2013-14 season for having low academic progress scores(APR).
The NCAA's annual Academic Progress Rate (APR) release, revealed that these programs did not qualify for the postseason. In addition to the bans, the university received practice reduction penalties in baseball and softball.
The APR allots two points every term to athletes who satisfy the eligibility requirements and remain at their school. The teams that have suffered postseason penalties scored below a 900 APR in data accumulated through four academic years from 2008-09 to 2011-12. All the teams are required to score a minimum four-year APR of 900 or a two-year average of 930 to meet the criteria to participate in championship programs. The APR is also treated as a forecaster of graduation success rate.
Out of the 18 athletic programs at the university, the aforementioned four sports scored below 900: volleyball (889), football (866), baseball (864) and men's basketball (821). The NCAA stated that these teams failed to meet the stipulations of a conditionally-approved penalty waiver from last year.
However, two women's sports that also totaled below the minimum requirement- softball (898) and bowling (868) dodged the bans because of the graduation success rate (softball) and squad size (bowling).
While the information was made public only on Tuesday, the officials learnt of the sanctions a month before and immediately filed an appeal to review all four sports after realizing that there were slight differences in the numbers submitted for consideration. The NCAA is still considering the appeal which could change its decision on the sanctions.
"We have and will continuously review and implement measures to provide essential academic resources for our student-athletes," ASU interim president William H. Harris said. "Although we have seen improvements in all areas, we are committed to assuring that athletic programs meet or exceed the established standards. We take the development of our student-athletes very seriously and are committed to addressing every matter that is a barrier to the success of our athletic program.
As such, we have made both staff and coaching changes to help to improve the academic preparedness and performance our student athletes. We have thoroughly reviewed the NCAA's report and have submitted waivers for review of the sanctions. We are optimistic for favorable outcomes for the upcoming seasons."
The scores for other four ASU programs include, women's cross country (990), women's indoor track (970), women's outdoor track (969), women's tennis (961), soccer (952), men's cross country (943), women's basketball (946), men's golf (938), men's tennis (929), men's outdoor track (926), and men's indoor track (925).
