The bottom line with the Academic Progress Rate for Arizona basketball released today: The Wildcats essentially escaped their messy transition era without penalty because of player retention or eligibility trouble.
That's good -- and maybe surprising -- news for the Wildcats.
Arizona scored above the average for men's basketball with a 950 mark, and well above the 925 penalty line, all despite having a rating derived from the four-year period from 2006-07 to 2009-10.
Peeling the numbers back further:
Arizona had 11 players either leave or transfer early during that four-year period, when a total of four coaches oversaw the program. That number easily had the potential to set the program under 925, but the fact that most of those players appeared to leave with their eligibility intact saved them.
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In addition, the Wildcats reported a perfect APR season in 2007-08 when coached by Kevin O'Neill --- in part because the three players who left that year all did so in good academic standing.
The 950 number in the face of adversity speaks to UA's academic support system, as well as to UA's policy to only issue automatic releases to transfers who are eligible and have at least a 2.6 GPA (the threshold at which no APR points are lost). Those who leave with eligibility but have less than a 2.6 (and thus could still cost a point) are considered on a case-by-case basis. Those who are not eligible are not given releases.
You may recall that Jeff Withey's transfer request was initially denied in 2008-09, and the policy may have something to do with it. Withey was finally released toward the end of the fall 2008 semester.
The NCAA has a searchable APR database here.
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For anyone caring for an APR "refresher," the details are as follows: APR is essentially a rolling four-year batting average, multiplied by 1000, of the "hits" a program gets for each of two "at-bats" every player gets every semester -- one at-bat for staying eligible and one at-bat for staying in the program.
Thus, a player who remains eligible and in the program is "2 for 2." A player who transfers but remains eligible is "1 for 2," but can be a "1 for 1" if he or she achieves a 2.6 GPA (in which case the retention equation is thrown out) and a player who transfers and is ineligible is "0 for 2."
In addition, players who leave for the pros but do so while eligible are also a wash at 1 for 1 if they sign a pro contract --- which is why it has been so important to the program to get guys such as Chase Budinger and now Derrick Williams to finish on a good academic note.
Because this year's four-year rating included 2009-10, the Wildcats had to incorporate the losses of Garland Judkins and D.J. Shumpert. But the December 2005 transfer of Jesus Verdejo fell off the books.
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Academic eligibility issues generally do not become public, unless a player does not play, but the retention figures are obvious.
Here's the full rundown of guys who have left UA early in the current reporting period
'06-07
J.P. Prince (Tennessee)
Marcus Williams (pro)
'07-08
Laval Lucas-Perry (Michigan)*
Jerryd Bayless (Pro)
Mohamed Tangara (Chaminade)**
'08-09
Jeff Withey (Kansas)
Zane Johnson (Hawaii)
Chase Budinger (pro)
Jordan Hill (pro)
'09-10
Garland Judkins (Texas A&M Corpus Christi)
D.J Shumpert (Cal State San Bernardino)
*Lucas-Perry left with over a 2.6 GPA but because he did not stay at UA for a full academic year, he initially cost UA an APR point -- but that point was reinstated because Lucas-Perry successfully appealed to have the year of eligibility reinstated (he was eligible again as a freshman, not a sophomore, in December 2008).
**Tangara had graduated from UA and would not have cost the school any APR points no matter what he did.
In the next four reporting periods, UA will need to incorporate the 2010-11 departures of MoMo Jones, Daniel Bejarano and Derrick Williams, though Williams left with eligibility intact and is almost certain not to cost any APR points.
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Several UA recruiting targets on ESPN's latest Top 100 for the class of 2012, including Shabazz Muhammad, Mitch McGary and Brandon Ashley.
And Traneofthought offered a concise rundown of UA's 2012 recruiting situation on the previous discussion thread ...
