Tigers avoid penalties

Clemson’s basketball team falls below the APR cutoff but shows improvement

By PAUL STRELOW - pstrelow@thestate.com

CLEMSON — Clemson’s men’s basketball team will avoid punishment despite not having a passing Academic Progress Rate.

Although they fall below the cutoff score of 925 for their four-year APR average, the Tigers were spared losing a scholarship because they did not have a player who failed to earn one of his retention points.

Larry LaForge, Clemson’s NCAA faculty representative, said the team could have been subject to penalty if it had an “0-for-2” athlete — meaning the player did not get a point for either academic retention or keeping his athletic eligibility.

When that occurs — as it did at USC with basketball player Mike Jones — the team cannot fill the scholarship vacated by the athlete who left with ineligible status.

The NCAA released this year’s APR report Tuesday.

The basketball team’s four-year score was 920, a vast improvement from last year’s 894 three-year average. In order to reach that mark, it scored a perfect 1000 during the 2006-07 year, LaForge said.

Had Clemson not risen above a 900 average, it could have been subject to a “historical” penalty for failing to show progress.

When it remained below the 900-mark last year, it submitted to the NCAA a plan for further helping players with tutoring and advisement this past season. That plan has been tweaked for next season.

“I think they’ve had pretty solid improvement,” athletics director Terry Don Phillips said.

The NCAA did not subject sports such as basketball to penalty in the APR’s first three years because their small roster sizes skewed data. However, that exemption expired this year in most cases and will be phased out completely next year.

The school’s next-lowest APR average was a 944 by the men’s tennis team.

Clemson’s football team notched a 950 average, while the baseball squad had a 966 — both ranking between the 70th to 80th percentiles in their respective sports.

Sixteen of the school’s 19 programs improved their average from the previous year.

The rowing team posted the highest APR (992).