Jan. 10, 2005
Columbia, Mo. -
The University of Missouri men's basketball team is starting to heat up on the court, as evidenced by its strong play over the last couple of weeks. What might not draw as much attention - but is just as impressive nonetheless - are the achievements in the classroom by the program lately.
With final grades now set for the 2004 fall semester at Mizzou, the reports show that the men's basketball team has established a record for its team grade point average. Bryan Maggard, MU's Associate Athletic Director for Academic Services, says that the Tiger men's team came in with a cumulative team GPA of 2.91 this past fall - which was the highest single semester mark in recorded history for an MU men's basketball squad.
According to Maggard, four Tiger cagers had GPAs of over 3.0 on the standard 4.0 scale, and two will earn a place on the coveted Dean's List.
The achievement comes on the heels of the 2004 NCAA Graduation Report, which shows that the Missouri men's basketball team led the Big 12 Conference in graduation rates, at 67%. The next-best rate in the league belonged to Colorado (40%), followed by Texas Tech and Kansas (33%) and Nebraska (20%). The rates represent students who enrolled in 1997-98 and graduated within six years.
Maggard was obviously very pleased with the news of the Tigers' achievements. "I'm very proud of the efforts and the hardwork put in by the kids," he said. "I'm really pleased to see their efforts get rewarded this way. I think it's reflective of the emphasis on academics by Coach (Quin) Snyder and Omar Parker (who oversees academics from the coaching staff), as well as the great work done by Tammy Chievous, who oversees the team's academic progress from our staff," he said.
Head Men's Basketball Coach Quin Snyder was equally proud of his team's academic record. "I've said from day one here that academics would always be a cornerstone of our program," said Snyder. "It is really rewarding to see our guys buy into that belief and move one step closer to earning their degree every day," he said.
