Georgia Tech’s football, golf, women’s tennis and men’s swimming teams are among the top 10 percent in the country for their academic progress rate (APR) scores, as measured by the NCAA.
It’s the largest number of teams Tech has had honored in one year since 2011, when four teams received recognition for their APR scores, which measure eligibility, retention and graduation. The record is five, in 2010 (baseball, men’s cross country, golf, women’s cross country, volleyball).
It is the ninth consecutive year that golf coach Bruce Heppler’s team has received the honor. The team has earned recognition every year that the NCAA has honored teams for their APR scores. In fact, the team has had a perfect 1,000 score since the NCAA began monitoring APR in the 2003-04 academic year. Earlier this week, the Yellow Jackets received a No. 1 seed in the Raleigh, N.C., NCAA regional.
Coach Paul Johnson’s football team received recognition for the second year in a row by matching its 983 score from a year ago. The scores are a four-year rolling average. This year’s scores count the 2009-10 academic year through the 2012-13 year.
Johnson’s team went to a bowl game for the 17th consecutive season in December.
The women’s tennis and men’s swimming teams were honored for the first time. For the women’s tennis team, the four-year span covers former coach Bryan Shelton’s final three years and coach Rodney Harmon’s first season. The tennis team, ranked No. 20 in the country, plays a first-round NCAA tournament match against Purdue Friday, its 15th consecutive NCAA appearance.
Swimming coach Courtney Shealy Hart began coaching at Tech in the 2009-10 season. The team scored at the NCAA championships this March for the first time since 2010.
