April 24, 2009

VILLANOVA, Pa. - On Wednesday, April 22, the NCAA recognized the collegiate teams that registered multi-year APR (Academic Progress Rate) scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports. Villanova University had seven of its 24 varsity sports publicly recognized for being in the top 10 percent for their APR. In addition, all 24 Wildcat athletic programs scored well above the NCAA minimum APR standard.

"This is a credit to our coaches, faculty and support staff for identifying outstanding student-athletes and mentoring them so well," said Villanova Director of Athletics Vince Nicastro. "I can't say enough about our student-athletes who work so diligently in the classroom and are fully committed to the academic priorities at Villanova. Our student-athletes have once again distinguished themselves by their commitment to the academic component of our mission."

The seven Wildcat teams earning recognition from the NCAA include men's basketball, women's basketball, men's golf, men's lacrosse, men's swimming, softball and football.

Men's basketball joins Notre Dame as the only two Big East schools to earn recognition, while the Wildcats women's basketball squad is one of three Big East teams to garner acclaim (Connecticut and DePaul). The Villanova football team along with Richmond, New Hampshire and William & Mary are the four members of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) to earn APR public recognition.

From a conference standpoint, the Big East had the third most number of teams honored with 60. The Ivy had the most teams recognized with 144, while the Patriot League was second with 85.

The APR was established by the NCAA as a real-time measure of academic performance. Under the new APR calculation, student-athletes earn points each semester based on academic standing and retention.