By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Iowa State Improves Again in APR:
The NCAA released its NCAA Academic Performance Rate (APR) metric yesterday and Iowa State student-athletes made incredible achievements in the classroom according to the data.
For the second-straight season, Iowa State recorded one of its highest APR totals in school history with a 986.
This year’s score ranked third in the Big 12 Conference, the second consecutive season where ISU ranked in the top-three in the league.
The APR calculation, a team-based academic metric created by the NCAA, is a measurement of the academic eligibility and retention of student-athletes. The NCAA created it as its primary academic measure for student-athlete performance toward graduation.
The NCAA also uses each institution’s overall APR score to annually distribute a portion of the millions of dollars of revenue generated by the NCAA Basketball Championship.
Iowa State University’s score of 986 means the Cyclone student-athletes earned 98.6% of all available eligibility and retention points.
Four sports (men’s golf, women’s cross country, women’s track & field and swimming & diving) had perfect single-year scores and 12 Cyclone programs improved or maintained their overall ranking from a year ago.
Hawkeyes Soar in APR:
The NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate (APR) report for 2018-19 revealed that – for the 10th consecutive year – all of the University of Iowa’s 24 sports programs were well above the 930 threshold that signals a red flag with respect to academic progress. The highlights of results for the UI’s student-athletes include:
- Men’s cross country, men’s gymnastics, men’s tennis, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, rowing, field hockey, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, women’s soccer, and women’s tennis all scored a perfect single year score of 1,000.
- All 24 of the University of Iowa’s athletic programs achieved no lower than a 950 multiyear rate.
- Eleven Hawkeye teams are at or above the national average of 983
- Nineteen Hawkeye teams scored above a 970.
Association Director Still Keeping Door Open for Summer Sports:
Appearing on KWQC-TV, Iowa High School Athletic Association director Tom Keating is remaining optimistic on a return to play scenario for summer sports this season.
“We are built to run seasons and events, we are not built to put them on pause or cancel them. We live to put these events on. Our time has been spent every day to make this happen safely. We are trying to sift through [information] to make this possible. What might work in Indiana might not work in Iowa” Keating explained.
Discussions with member schools, the Iowa Department of Education, the Iowa Department of Public Health, and NFHS are on-going in determining when and how upcoming activities may proceed.
Governor Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Department of Education set June 1 as a deadline date for an announcement regarding the possibility of summer sports and activities at Iowa schools.
The IHSAA and IGHSAU will issue a decision and further guidance following those announcements by Reynolds.
Iowa State’s Bowens Enters Transfer Portal:
Just days after securing a commitment from North Carolina grad transfer Greg Ross, Iowa State safety Richard Bowens III has announced he will be entering the transfer portal.
Bowens, a redshirt junior from Detroit, Michigan played in just six games this past season for the Cyclones after appearing in 12 in 2018.
A three-star recruit out of high school, Bowens choose Iowa State over Iowa, Minnesota, Cincinnati and Syracuse.