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USF Wants Clean Slate

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By BRETT McMURPHY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 10, 2009

Updated: 02/10/2009 11:36 pm

TAMPA - The University of South Florida football program avoided loss of scholarships by meeting the required Academic Progress Report score, but the USF baseball team lost 1.27 scholarships for not meeting APR requirements.

USF's football team scored a 917 when the last figures were released in May. Scores below 925 are subject to loss of scholarships, but the school received an appeal from the NCAA contingent on scoring at least 937 on a 1,000-point scale in the next grading period.

USF associate AD Bill McGillis said USF scored at least 937, which is based on academic performance and retention from the previous three school years. However, McGillis refused to disclose USF's score.

Because the baseball team did not meet the required APR minimum scores in 2006-07, it lost 1.17 - or 10 percent - of its 11.7 scholarships. USF also lost another 0.10 scholarships for the 2007-08 season, but the school decided to incur the overall loss of 1.27 scholarships for this season to allow the Bulls to start 2009-10 with a clean slate, McGillis said.

The Bulls will have the maximum 11.7 baseball scholarships in 2009-10, he said.

The baseball team's low APR scores were because of the high turnover rate of players when Lelo Prado became coach last season. In the fall, USF's baseball team had a 3.2 GPA, the highest of any USF male sport.

"When I came here, I knew there would be turnover, but we've raised the bar here academically," Prado said. "You can see what we've done academically."

The NCAA's APR calculation measures eligibility and retention of student-athletes and is based on reforms the NCAA adopted several years ago to improve the success and graduation rates of student-athletes.

GREAT EIGHT: Maybe it shouldn't have been that big of a surprise that USF upset No. 8 Marquette, 57-56, on Friday. Coach Stan Heath is 3-0 against the nation's No. 8 teams.

Heath's Arkansas club upset No. 8 Alabama, 88-61, on Jan. 6, 2007, and his Kent State team upset No. 8 Alabama, 71-58, on March 16, 2002, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

ODDS AND ENDS: Dallas Cowboys CB Anthony Henry, who played on the Bulls' inaugural team in 1997, donated $100,000 to the football locker room and the school's weight room. It's the largest gift to USF by a former player. ... Assistant Kevin Patrick was named among the top 25 college football recruiters by Rivals.com. ... OF Ryan Lockwood was named to The Sporting News' preseason All-America team.

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