by BY BOB HOLT AND TOM MURPHY ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE , Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

After going 2-14 in SEC play, Arkansas has been hit with the conference's lowest Academic Progress Report (APR) score of 888 according to statistics released by the NCAA on Wednesday.

Th at score, which includes academic eligibility and retention numbers for the previous four years combined, has put the Razorbacks in the lower 10 percent for teams in all sports and in danger of losing a scholarship for next season depending on how players finish up this semester academically.

Teams with an APR score below 925 and have a player become academically ineligible and leave school the same semester - an 0-for-2 as the NCAA puts it - are subject to losing a scholarship.

"We are concerned," Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long said. "It's certainly a very real potential for us.

"We haven't lost a scholarship, we hope that we don't. We're going to be working very hard to not. But we are going to be in jeopardy of losing a scholarship for the next two to three years." Arkansas had 16 of its 19 sports exceed or equal last year's APR scores, led by a perfect 1,000 by the women's golf team for the fifth consecutive year.

Men's basketball was the only sport to fall below 925, but it is among the two-highest profile sports, along with football.

The Razorbacks' football team scored 927 compared to a national average of 939.

The men's basketball national average is 933. Arkansas scored 944 in men's basketball last year, but then plunged this year because: All six seniors on the 2007-2008 team failed to graduate.

Patrick Beverley was ruled academically ineligible before his junior season and left school to play professionally in the Ukraine.

Nate Rakestraw and Levan Patsatsia transferred after playing sparingly as freshmen.

Arkansas' APR score figures to be low again next year because at least three players aren't returning from last season's team.

Junior college transfer Montrell McDonald left the team between semesters after being suspended by Coach John Pelphrey, and Brandon Moore and Andre Clark are transferring after being freshman reserves. It's also possible Michael Washington might not return for his senior season. He has declared for the NBA Draft but has not signed with an agent, meaning he can withdraw his name by June 15 and retain his eligibility A team that scores below 900 three years in a row, in addition to lost scholarships, could face reduced practice time and a postseason ban.

"We're a long way away from postseason bans," Long said. "But we certainly are working proactively. Long before this data came out today, we've been calculating where we stand and working on ways that we can improve our scores." Long said there is no way to know how Arkansas' basketball players will finish this semester and impact whether the team faces a scholarship loss for next year.

"I think they've been performing well," Long said. "Although that doesn't mean we might not have somebody slip up and not achieve the grade in a course that we anticipate." Pelphrey is 37-28 in two seasons at Arkansas after replacing Stan Heath.

"Our current APR score is a reflection of many factors, including a significant amount of transition in the time period evaluated," Pelphrey said in an Arkansas news release. "Just as we have taken steps to lay the groundwork for an even stronger team on the court, our coaches and academic support staff have worked with our student-athletes to help them enhance their academic progress." Pelphrey added that he's "optimistic" the Razorbacks' APR score will improve, but with at least three players leaving this year's team, it's a given that Arkansas' basketball APR score will remain low next year.

"This is not a one-year situation," Long said. "We didn't get this score in one year, we got it in four years. And, consequently, it's going to take us three to four years to pull this score back up to where we want it to be, and that`s above the 925 cut line." Arkansas, which received public notice from the NCAA for its latest basketball score, can gain bonus points if its seniors from previous years graduate in the future.

There also is an appeals process to the NCAA if a team faces scholarship losses or other penalties.

Arkansas Division I APR roundup UALR The Trojans' baseball team, with a 908 score, will be limited to 11.15 scholarships as a contemporaneous penalty. That is a reduction of essentially 5 percent from the normal maximum of 11.7 scholarships in that sport.

The average score in men's baseball for all Division I schools is 946, putting UALR's APR in the 10th to 20th percentile nationally.

The Trojans scored well otherwise. Seven of nine women's sports posted multi-year scores of 950 or better, led by golf (992) and tennis (985). Five of the seven men's sports hit the 950 mark or better, paced by outdoor track (980), golf (963) and basketball (962).

Arkansas STATE

The Red Wolves placed just two sports below the cut line, but neither of them are subject to scholarship penalties because, according to the NCAA report, "the team is performing better than the institution's general student body, or based on institutional, athletics and student resources." The Red Wolves' men's basketball program posted a four-year score of 906, up from the 893 of last year, to rank between the 20th and 30th percentile nationally. Men's indoor track scored 921.

Eight of Arkansas State's 16 sports teams scored 950 or better, led by a 985 in women's cross country and a 978 in women's golf.

Arkansas-PINE BLUFF

The top three men's sports all fell below the 925 cut line. Men's basketball scored the lowest at 907, with football at 912 and baseball at 914. But those sports are not in line for scholarship sanctions, because like Arkansas State, those sports are performing better than the institution's general student body UAPB's women's bowling also scored below the cut line with a 917, but it is not subject to penalties because of squad-size adjustment.

The Golden Lions had eight of 15 sports post scores of 950 or better, led by women's tennis (981), men's outdoor track (969) and women's soccer (967).

CENTRAL Arkansas

The Bears are still adjusting to their move to Division I, and they have several sports in both men's and women's athletics under the cut line. None of the sports were subject to historical penalties because there is only two years of data to interpret, but men's indoor and outdoor track, both with scores of 861, have been hit with a contemporaneous penalty of essentially the loss of one scholarship. Instead of being allowed to offer 12.6 scholarships, UCA will have only 11.57 scholarships in those two sports.

This article was published 05/07/2009

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