DePaul University

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - A total of five programs from DePaul earned honors from the NCAA for having multi-year Academic Performance Rate (APR) scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports the organization announced on Wednesday. Men's basketball, women's basketball, golf, softball and women's tennis were all recognized by the NCAA for 2009-10 with the Public Recognition Award. The APR measures academic progress and retention of student-athletes receiving any measure of athletically-based scholarship assistance.

"Once again our student-athletes have proven themselves among their peers from across the BIG EAST and the country. Following the 2008-09 academic year, we led the conference with seven team academic awards and we now have five programs earning this NCAA honor for their continued academic success," said athletics director Jean Lenti Ponsetto. "The support system we have here at DePaul enables our student-athletes to maximize their potential both in the classroom and in competition and it is indicative of the commitment the DePaul University community makes to educate every student-athlete in our program."

DePaul's total of five teams honored represents the fourth-best total among all BIG EAST Conference schools. Women's basketball and women's tennis picked up the recognition for the third straight year while the golf team was honored for the second consecutive season. Men's basketball is making its first appearance on the APR list and is just one of three BIG EAST men's basketball programs to be recognized.

Only DePaul and Villanova received the recognition from the 16 women's basketball programs in the BIG EAST while softball was one of four league teams and women's tennis and golf were one of seven teams in their respective sports on the APR list.

The APR provides a real-time look at a team's academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete. The APR includes eligibility, retention, and graduation in the calculation and provides a clear picture of the academic culture in each sport. High-performing teams receiving awards posted APR scores ranging from 965 to a perfect 1,000.

A total of 841 teams earned the NCAA Public Recognition Award up from 767 teams last year. The 841 teams represent 13.4 percent of the 6,297 eligible Division I teams. The list includes 492 women's teams and 349 men's or mixed squads. A total of 228 of the 331 Division I colleges and universities placed at least one team on the top APR list. Another six of the 50 schools that offer athletics in more than one division placed Division I teams on the list.

The Ivy Group had the most number of teams honored (135), followed by the Patriot League (90) and the Big East Conference (70). Full APR scores for all Division I sports teams, including penalties for low-performing teams, will be released later this spring.