Utah teams safe from NCAA penalties for academic shortfalls

Teams at 65 schools — including Texas, Tennessee and West Virginia — failed to meet the NCAA's new academic standards and now face the loss of scholarships for their poor grades. But so far, Utah teams are safe.

Don't look for any of the biggest names in football or basketball on the list released Wednesday by the NCAA of those lagging behind in the classroom.

The only school in the six biggest conferences to be sanctioned in football or men's basketball, the primary moneymakers for most athletic departments, was DePaul of the Big East. It could lose one scholarship in men's basketball next year.

Nationwide, 99 teams could lose scholarships as early as next fall. The new academic points system requires each team to meet minimum requirements or face the potential loss of scholarship money when academically ineligible athletes leave school. No school can lose more than 10 percent of its scholarships. And if the ineligible scholarship athlete stays in school, the NCAA will not take the scholarship away from the athlete's team.

Although 13 teams in the state of Utah fall below the Academic Progress Rate cutoff mark of 925, none are subject to penalties because of the "squad-size adjustment." That adjustment will be eliminated when the APR is released for the fourth time. The numbers released Wednesday were for two academic years.

The teams that came up short were Utah baseball (920), men's basketball (875), men's skiing (912), men's swimming (919) and softball (923); Weber State men's basketball (900), football (919) and men's tennis (912); Utah State men's basketball (882) and football (912); Southern Utah baseball (898) and men's track (916); and BYU men's volleyball (887).

Utah athletic director Chris Hill is pleased with the progress his institution is making.

Utah's best scores are in women's volleyball (1,000), women's soccer (994), women's gymnastics (990), women's swimming (988), women's tennis (984) and men's tennis (981).

Utah's lowest score is still in men's basketball, but it is improving.

Hill pointed out that his school's APR number in the summer of 2004 when Ray Giacoletti first arrived was 837. This past year it was 913, giving Utah a two-year average of 875. He said even if men's basketball gets 1,000 this year, it will still fall below the 925 minimum.

"We want to keep improving and feel the trend is going up," Hill said. "We'll keep striving to get better."