Memphis Athletics sets six APR records

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – After being a part of the University's record-setting 2020 graduation class more than a week ago, Memphis Athletics continued to make outstanding news in the academic arena with Tuesday's release of its Academic Progress Rate (APR) report by the NCAA.

The Tigers had six programs set APR records and also had three post the highest APR in the American Athletic Conference. The current APR is based on the multi-year period from 2015-16 through 2018-19.

Program Record APR	Highest APR In The American
Women's Basketball (995)	Women's Basketball (995)
Women's Cross Country (994)	Women's Golf (1,000)
Women's Golf (1,000)	Men's Soccer (987)
Football (980)
Men's Soccer (987)
Women's Soccer (984)

In addition, Memphis had nine programs with a 1,000 APR score for the 2018-19 year only. It is the second straight year the Tigers had nine programs with perfect APR scores for a single year. Five other Memphis programs had 2018-19 APR only scores of 980 or higher.

Memphis Programs With 1,000 APR for 2018-19 Year Only
Men's Basketball	Women's Golf*
Women's Basketball*	Men's Tennis*
Men's Cross Country*	Women's Tennis*
Women's Cross Country	Women's Volleyball
Men's Golf*

*earned 1,000 APR score for 2017-18 year only (second straight year in 2018-19)

Furthermore, none of the Memphis programs received any NCAA penalties for the 14^thconsecutive year and no NCAA postseason bans for the 15^th year in a row.

Of the school's 17 athletics programs, 11 were above or equal to the NCAA APR average and the other six were within 10 points of the national average. The 11 programs above or equal to the NCAA APR average were four more than a year ago when Memphis had seven programs meet or exceed those national averages.

Sport	UofM Multi-Yr APR	NCAA Multi-Yr APR
Baseball (^)	989	977
M-Basketball (^)	968	966
W-Basketball (^)	995	983
M-Cross Country (^)	985	982
W-Cross Country (^)	994	989
Football (^)	980	964
M-Golf	981	987
W-Golf (^)	1,000	992
Rifle (=)	985	985
M-Soccer (^)	987	978
W-Soccer	984	990
Softball (^)	987	986
M-Tennis (^)	985	983
W-Tennis	983	991
M-Track and Field	973	974
W-Track and Field	974	984
Volleyball	984	988

(^) above NCAA APR average; (=) equal to NCAA APR average

Last week, Lady Tigers golf was honored by the NCAA for posting an APR among the top-10 percent nationally in its sport. It was the 10^thstraight year Memphis women's golf received an NCAA Public Recognition Award for its APR score.

The following shows Memphis' multi-year (four-year period from 2015-16 to 2018-19) and 2018-19 APR scores for each athletics program and some additional APR highlights:

Sport	Multi-Year APR	2018-19 Only APR	Sport	Multi-Year APR	2018-19 Only APR
Baseball	989	982	M-Soccer	987	988
M-Basketball	968	1,000	W-Soccer	984	990
W-Basketball	995	1,000	Softball	987	975
M-Cross Country	985	1,000	M-Tennis	985	1,000
W-Cross Country	994	1,000	W-Tennis	983	1,000
Football	980	991	M-Track and Field	973	990
M-Golf	981	1,000	W-Track and Field	974	968
W-Golf	1,000	1,000	Volleyball	984	1,000
Rifle	985	967

Football's 980 score, a 12-point improvement over the last three years (968 in 2016-17/976 in 2017-18/980 in 2018-19)
Football's 980 score, higher than the NCAA APR averages for public (961) and private (970) institutions and all FBS schools (968)
Football's 980 score, fifth-highest among American Athletic Conference schools
Football's 980 score, higher than all Big 12 Conference schools and also tied for fifth among Southeastern Conference (SEC) schools
Men's basketball 968 score, a 34-point improvement over the last three years (934 in 2016-17/940 in 2017-18/968 in 2018-19)
Women's basketball's 995 score, a 14-point improvement from last year
Women's basketball's 995 score, a nearly 30-point improvement the last five years (966 in 2014-15/968 in 2015-16/980 in 2016-17/981 in 2017-18/995 in 2018-19)
Women's basketball's 995 score, tied for second among Big 12 Conference institutions and tied for third among SEC schools
Baseball's 989 score, 10^thstraight year with a 985 or higher score
Baseball's 989 score, second-highest APR among the league's schools in its sport for a third consecutive year
Baseball's 989 score, higher than all Big 12 Conference schools and second among Southeastern Conference (SEC) schools
Men's tennis' 985 score, program's highest APR since 2013-14
Women's tennis' 983 score, program's highest APR since 2014-15
Volleyball's 984 score, program's highest since 2014-15
Women's soccer's 984 score, eighth time in last 10 years with a 980 or higher score
Softball's 987 score, 14^thstraight year with a 975 or higher score
Men's cross country's 985 score, fifth straight year with a 985 or higher score (had perfect 1000 scores in 2014-15 and 2015-16)
Men's soccer's 987 score, fourth straight year with a 970 or higher score and a 13-point improvement from last year (974)
Women's cross country's 994 score, fifth straight year with a 980 or higher score and a nine-point improvement from last year (985)
Men's tennis' 985 score, the ninth straight year with a 975 score or higher
Women's tennis' 983 score, the ninth time in the last 10 years with a 980 or higher score and a 12-point improvement over the last three years (971 in 2016-17/981 in 2017-18/983 in 2018-19)
Volleyball's 984 score, 15^thconsecutive year with a 975 or higher score

The APR provides a real-time look at a team's academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation, and provides a measure of each team's academic performance.

Every Division I sports team calculates an APR each academic year. Scholarship student-athletes each semester receive one point for remaining eligible and one point for staying in school or graduating.

Teams scoring below certain thresholds can face consequences intended to require additional focus on academics, including practice restrictions, playing season reductions and postseason ineligibility.

In order to compete in the 2020-21 postseason, teams had to earn a 930 multi-year APR score. NCAA member campuses and conferences in Division I decided to move to the 930 standard because it predicts roughly a 50 percent graduation rate.

University of Memphis Athletics

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