May 24, 2011

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas - The Prairie View A&M women’s golf team was honored by the NCAA with a Public Recognition Award in the latest multiyear NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR).

“We try to recruit students with strong academics first,” said head golf coach Alvin Blake. “Most of the golfers I’ve recruited are either agriculture or pre-med majors and those are rigorous programs that require a lot of time and commitment. Academics are just as important to me as golf and I’ve been fortunate that our system has worked as we’ve been pretty competitive over the past few seasons.”

The APR provides a real-time view of a team's academic success by tracking the progress of each student-athlete during the school year. By measuring eligibility and retention each semester or quarter, the APR provides a clear picture of the academic culture in each sport. The most recent APRs are multi-year rates based on scores from the 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, and the 2009-10 academic years. The 909 teams publicly recognized this year for high achievement represent 14 percent of the 6,385 eligible Division I teams.