INDIANAPOLIS – Illinois State Athletics earned a record high single-year Academic Progress Rate score of 991 in the NCAA’s latest Division I APR report released Tuesday. A slightly higher rate was earned following the 2019-20 academic year which was elevated due to the impact of the Covid pandemic. Also announced today was the Redbirds’ four-year APR score of 989, which exceeds the national average of 984.
The APR tracks eligibility and retention of scholarship student-athletes each semester and annually provides a real-time picture of the performance of each team on these two measures.
Academic excellence is a pillar of Redbird Athletics, and we are proud of what our student-athletes have achieved,” Illinois State Director of Athletics Dr. Jeri Beggs said. “It’s amazing to me how well they do in the classroom, considering the amount of time they spend on their sport. I want to give a big shout out to all our staff who support our student-athletes’ academic success. We do everything we can to make sure they become everything they can.”
Eleven Redbird teams achieved perfect APR single-year scores of 1,000 for the 2023-24 academic year – women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, soccer, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, and volleyball.
Four of those also achieved a 1,000 in the multi-year rate – a four-year combined perfect score. Those teams are women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, and volleyball. Thirteen of seventeen Redbird teams equaled or exceeded the NCAA Division I national multi-year APR average in their respective sport.
In conjunction with its APR release, the NCAA recognized teams earning multi-year Academic Progress Rates in the Top 10 percent of their respective sports. The Redbirds have four teams with this distinction this year, including:
• Women’s Golf: Bre Hall’s program is being honored for the 7th time; and is currently competing at the NCAA Regionals after winning its second-straight MVC Championship.
• Men’s Golf: Ray Kralis’ program has earned this honor eight times. They head to the NCAA Regionals next week after winning the Missouri Valley Conference Championship for the second time in three seasons.
• Volleyball: This is the 6th time that the program has received this honor, the first under head coach Allie Matters.
• Women’s Cross Country: The program has earned this distinction for the third time under the leadership of head coach Jeff Bovee.
All of Illinois State’s teams achieved an APR score above the NCAA’s threshold to avoid program penalties and loss of access to NCAA postseason competition. The announcement is the NCAA’s latest report of APR for all Division I schools and includes single-year scores for 2023-24 and four-year multi-year scores between the 2020-21 and 2023-24 academic years.
A full list of APRs for each team can be accessed by using the APR searchable database: https://web3.ncaa.org/aprsearch/aprsearch
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