DRC 6 of NT's 11 teams at national average or

[OldTimer]

UNT shines on NCAA academic report

Six of North Texas’ 11 teams finished at the national average or above on the latest Graduation Success Rate Report released this week by the NCAA.

The report was based on the number of incoming freshman who graduated in six years after enrolling from 1996 to 1999. The GSR report does not count students who transferred out of a school while in good academic standing in its figures.

All of UNT’s programs that didn’t meet the national average were within seven percent of the mark.

The UNT women’s basketball team fared particularly well, posting an 84 percent graduation rate that ranked third in the Sun Belt Conference. Only Denver, a private school that posted a 100 percent GSR, and Western Kentucky and its 88 percent mark ranked ahead of the Mean Green.

“We truly believe in the student-athlete in that order,” UNT coach Tina Slinker said. “I have to credit more than my immediate staff. We have a good academic staff and everyone from the president down supports academics.”

The UNT football team posted a 55 percent GSR that equaled the national average.

The men’s basketball team was one of the UNT programs that finished under the national average. UNT finished with a 38 percent GSR. The national average was 45 percent.

The NCAA will release each college’s overall graduation rate next month.

The GSR is one of two reports the NCAA uses to measure the success of schools in retaining and graduating their athletes. Schools can lose scholarships for a poor performance on the Academic Progress Rates report, but do not face penalties for GSR scores.

UNT has improved its academic performance in the last few years under a new administration and new coaches in several sports.

Men’s basketball coach Johnny Jones did not arrive at UNT until the 2001-02 season, long before the players who counted toward the Mean Green’s latest GSR scores arrived on campus.

UNT football coach Darrell Dickey took over in 1998 and had two recruiting classes that counted toward his team’s GSR score.

Athletic director Rick Villarreal arrived at UNT in the spring of 2001.

Slinker, who became the Mean Green’s coach before the 1989-90 season, was one of the few coaches at the school who recruited the players who counted in the NCAA’s latest GSR report.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.

[Buford_Julep]

North Texas football and basketball have been helped by the NCAA's new method of calculating graduation rates.

USA Today story

Edited September 29, 2006 by Buford_Julep