University of Alabama continues to exceed in graduating its varsity athletes

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October 17, 2019

A total of six University of Alabama athletics programs, including the perfectly-scored men’s basketball team, led the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in Graduation Success Rate (GSR) figures released Wednesday by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

With an overall GSR of 91 this year, Alabama ranked third among SEC schools. The average GSR for all NCAA Division I student-athletes was 89.

“We are very proud that Crimson Tide athletics continues to be a leader when it comes to the GSR,” UA Director of Athletics Greg Byrne said in a statement.

UA’s score continues to far exceed the standards for completion of undergraduate studies nationally, per the NCAA.

“It is a testament to the emphasis our student-athletes, faculty, coaches and the athletics department as a whole puts on academics at The University of Alabama,” Byrne concluded.

The men’s basketball team remained at a perfect 100 while the Tide football team moved up to 85, which ranked third in the SEC, marking the 11th year in a row that the football squad’s GSR has ranked in the top four in the SEC.

In addition to men’s basketball, Alabama also led the SEC with perfect GSR scores of 100 in men’s golf, women’s golf, gymnastics, women’s swimming and diving and women’s tennis. Alabama was fourth among SEC schools in the number of teams scoring a perfect 100.

Overall, a dozen Alabama programs recorded a GSR score of 90 or better. In addition to the sports that had perfect scores of 100, six others posted scores of 90 or better: soccer (96), softball (94), volleyball (92), baseball (91), women’s basketball (91) and men’s swimming and diving (91).

The GSR measures graduation rates at Division I institutions and includes those transferring into the institutions. The GSR also allows institutions to subtract student-athletes who leave their institutions prior to graduation, as long as they would have been academically eligible to compete had they remained.

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn