Over the last four years the FAMU Rattler football team has been winning on the football field racking up three nine win seasons between 2022-2019 (the 2020 season cancelled due to COVID).
The Rattler football team, however, fell short in the classroom with a multi-year APR score of 898 during this same period. The single year APR score for football for 2021-22 was 898. The NCAA multi-year average in football over this period was 962. The NCAA requires a 930 average to compete without any sanctions.
Last spring, the Division I Board of Directors approved the release of APR scores but voted to continue suspension of program penalties thru spring 2024. Normal Academic Performance Program operations with program penalties and loss of access to postseason competition will resume in spring 2024, the NCAA said.
Without the rules waiver, the low APR score could result in a postseason ban or scholarship reductions. Because of the suspension of penalties, coach Willie Simmons' program gets another reprieve.
Last year, Interim Director of Athletics Michael Smith said, that the department is studying avenues for improvement.
The majority of the FAMU athletic programs satisfied the 930 requirement set by the NCAA, only football and men’s track with 924 fell below that threshold.
Overall the national four-year Academic Progress Rate held steady in NCAA D1 sports at 984. Baseball remained at 977, football fell by 2 points to 962 and men's basketball (967) and women's basketball (982) decreased by 1 point from last year's reported APR scores. “These sport decreases were due to drops in eligibility rates in 2021-22 rather than lower rates of retention,” the NCAA said.
Overall the national four-year Academic Progress Rate held steady in NCAA D1 sports at 984. Baseball remained at 977, football fell by 2 points to 962 and men's basketball (967) and women's basketball (982) decreased by 1 point from last year's reported APR scores. “These sport decreases were due to drops in eligibility rates in 2021-22 rather than lower rates of retention,” the NCAA said.
Normal Academic Performance Program operations with program penalties and loss of access to postseason competition will resume in spring 2024.
The NCAA released its annual Academic Progress Rate report, or APR scores, measuring the improvements and academic success for the 2021-2022 school year on Tuesday.
How do we look compared to the rest of the SWAC?
While FAMU football’s multiyear school was dead last among NCAA D1 schools last year, this year it was next to last in the SWAC with only Bethune Cookman having a lower score (892). This year FAMU's is third from the bottom in NCAA D1 football.
In all, the SWAC had six football teams ---half the conference--- that didn’t achieve the NCAA minimum score of 930. Grambling had the SWAC’s highest APR score in football with 948.
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In all, the SWAC had six football teams ---half the conference--- that didn’t achieve the NCAA minimum score of 930. Grambling had the SWAC’s highest APR score in football with 948.
All six MEAC football playing schools were at or above the NCAA minimum.
Men's golf records a perfect APR score
On the positive side, FAMU's men's golf team scored a perfect multi-year score with 1,000 points, women's bowling recorded a 990 APR, followed by women's volleyball with a 975 APR.
Men's baseball had a 963, while softball had a 971, and cross county had a 967. The link to all FAMU sports APR scores is here.