Texas sports: How did UT athletes fare in the classroom?
All 85 scholarship athletes were in good standing during Brown’s next-to-last season.
Mack Brown certainly can be criticized for what happened on the field. But he should receive some credit for what happened in the classroom, too.
The Texas football program recorded a perfect score of 1,000 for the 201213 academic year, according to the NCAA academic progress rates unveiled Wednesday.
That score indicates that of the 85 scholarship athletes, every one remained in good academic standing
and made satisfactory progress toward his degree, per NCAA guidelines. It’s the first time the football program has notched 1,000; its four-year average is 947, which ranks sixth in the Big 12.
“So proud of the perfect 1000 APR for Texas Football for the 2012-2013 year. The best ever,” Brown tweeted Wednesday. “What a great accomplishment. Great job guys!”
After his arrival in late November, Texas Athletic Director Steve Patterson rearranged the academic division and appointed Randa Ryan to oversee all of the department’s academic concerns. But associate athletic director Brian Davis still remains in charge of football.
The athletic department did not
make any senior-level executive available for comment Wednesday. The department also did not release any statements from school officials.
Ryan’s purchasing activity is being examined by the university office of internal audit. The American-Statesman has reported that Ryan and her subordinates made at least 22 purchases from 2007 to 2013 totaling $20,454.30 from a Wimberley antique store coowned by Ryan and her husband, Stephen Klepfer.
The purchases, which include $2,500 in pillows among other office decorations, appear to violate the university’s rules on purchasing ethics and self-dealing.
“The audit will be com- pleted at the end of June, at the earliest, assuming nothing unforeseen requires it to be extended,” said university spokesman Gary Susswein, who works directly for Texas President Bill Powers. The audit is expected to include forensic accounting and interviews.
Many Texas programs are close to putting up perfect APR totals over a four-year time frame. Men’s basketball, men’s tennis and volleyball all have 1,000 multiyear averages, according to NCAA data.
Women’s swimming and diving, women’s cross country and softball all have a 996. Baseball is at 995. Men’s golf and women’s soccer are sitting at 994.
According to the NCAA, teams must have a four-year minimum of 940 to participate in NCAA championship events during the 2014-15 academic year. That number falls to 930 in the 2015-16 academic year and beyond.
Oklahoma State’s football program posted a multiyear rate of 929.41 and suffered what’s described as a level-one penalty — a loss of one practice day during the week in season.
The Oklahoman newspaper reported Wednesday that OSU will be forced to practice five days a week this season, instead of the normal six. Games are included in that total. The NCAA mandates that every team take at least one day off per week.
“We are accountable for what we do and ultimately, we are here to serve our student-athletes and do our best to keep them on track to be lifelong contributors to society,” OSU Athletic Director