Big East's NCAA APR multiyear scores for men's basketball

Today, the NCAA released their annual multi-year scorecards on academic progress, defined as how well a school can keep athletes eligible and retain them. As the University of Connecticut (our NCAA national champions in men's basketball) have learned, bringing in players who are booted from school without playing a single minute really hurt. As do players who leave in poor academic standing, below a 2.6 grade point average.

The Huskies will be losing two scholarships. And Jim Calhoun loses over $187,000 total - $87,500 in a bonus, and he must give $100,000 to the University's general scholarship fund.

From NCAA.org:

The scorecards that track classroom performance of Division I sports teams show continued improvement for most squads....

In the NCAA’s high-profile sports, football’s average four-year APR is 946, up two points over last year; men’s basketball is 945, up five points; and baseball is 959, up five points.

Fewer student-athletes are leaving school ineligible each year, while more than 8,400 student-athletes have returned to campus and earned their degrees in the past seven years.

Every Division I sports team calculates its APR each academic year, based on the eligibility and retention of each scholarship student-athlete. Teams scoring below certain thresholds can face penalties, such as scholarship losses and restrictions on practice and competition. Rates are based on the past four years’ performance.

There is a lot of chatter about how fair the APR measure is to schools, given that players who are already moving on to another institution or are going pro don't necessarily have the incentive to maintain a high grade point average; check out Dan Wolken's post to delve more deeply into the flaws of the APR.

The Big East teams, in APR order below the fold. DePaul is tops in the multiyear APR, with West Virginia second; and St. John's is 8th.