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UK Athletics Tops Barnhart’s Goal of 3.0 GPA in Fall Semester
LEXINGTON, Ky. – In the
words of the Athletics Director himself, Kentucky student-athletes came
“dangerously close” to Mitch Barnhart’s goal of a 3.0 department-wide
grade-point average each of the past two semesters.
This fall, UK surged past that threshold.
During
a semester in which UK was just one of three programs nationally to
earn the right to host first-round NCAA Tournament games in women’s
soccer, men’s soccer and volleyball, competing scholarship
student-athletes attained an average GPA of 3.030. The GPA for all
competing student-athletes, including those not on scholarship, was
3.034.
“I see how hard our student-athletes work
every day and this is the result,” Barnhart said. “I am proud of the
commitment our young people and coaches have made to academics.
Education is one of the pillars of our program and I want to thank CATS
and our entire support staff for taking that to heart.”
Counting
competing scholarship student-athletes only, 17 of the department’s 20
teams topped a 3.0 GPA, led by the women’s tennis team at 3.842. Two
more teams had cumulative GPAs of 3.6 or better: women’s cross country
(3.608) and women’s golf (3.604). Men’s tennis led all men’s teams with
a GPA of 3.210.
Among teams that hosted the NCAA
Tournament this fall, women’s soccer (3.103) and volleyball (3.093)
achieved GPAs of better than 3.0. In total, 10 of the 13 teams that
participated in regular-season play during the fall semester had GPAs
better than 3.0, including men’s basketball. Featuring yet another
group of freshmen ranked as the nation’s top recruiting class, John
Calipari’s Wildcats had a team GPA of 3.066.
Looking
at individual GPAs, UK student-athletes’ work this fall is equally
impressive. More than half the student-athlete population – 273
Wildcats – had GPAs of 3.0 or better, while 54 student-athletes had
perfect 4.0 GPAs.
The work, however, is far from
done. Barnhart has said all along that his goal is to maintain a 3.0
department-wide GPA for a full academic year. UK will be pursuing that
goal and more in a continuing effort to prove that excellence in
competition and in the classroom can go hand-in-hand.
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