May 17, 2018
AUBURN, Ala. - When it comes to being a member of the Auburn family, head men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl has sold his program on improvement in the four Bs: Books, Basketball, Body and Bible.
With as much success as the Tigers have had on the court, including a Southeastern Conference title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 15 seasons in 2018, the biggest area of improvement in the program may be off the court.
The NCAA announced that Auburn received an Academic Progress Rate Public Recognition Award marking the first time the Tigers have been honored since the award began tracking data in 2004.
The NCAA annually honors teams earning multiyear Academic Progress Rates in the top 10 percent of all squads in each sport.
What does this mean to the Auburn basketball program?
"It means that 18 guys in four years graduated," Coach Pearl said. "It means our student-athletes, coaches, advisors, mentors and tutors worked extremely hard to realize a goal and obtain a degree from Auburn University that will serve them for the rest of their lives. It speaks to the quality of the faculty and the staff at Auburn for teaching, challenging and assisting our student-athletes to compete in the classroom."
The 18 graduates across the last four years are the most by any program in the SEC.
In the past four years, Auburn men's basketball has averaged an APR of 995, which includes two seasons with perfect scores of 1,000. With the NCAA set to announce the past season's APR in the coming days, the Tigers are anticipating their third perfect score in four years.
In the previous four seasons before Pearl and his staff arrived, Auburn's APR average score was 940.
"When Coach Pearl and his staff came to Auburn, we were in a less-than-desirable position as far as APR is concerned," Dr. Gary Waters, former Senior Associate Athletics Director of Academic Services, said. "The academic performance of the student-athletes for the men's basketball team these past few years has allowed them to turn that position into a strong, winning record in the classroom."
Not only have student-athletes gone on to graduate. They have also succeeded with flying colors during their four-plus years on The Plains.
The 2017-2018 squad that captured the first SEC title since 1999 and third all-time featured nine student-athletes with a cumulative GPA over 3.0.
Part of that achievement is due to the relationship between the basketball program and the academics staff.
"The counselor that works with men's basketball, Courtney Gage, is amazing and works really well with the guys and with the coaching staff," Dr. Kathryn Flynn, current Senior Associate Athletics Director of Academic Services, said. "I think that partnership is the key to the success that they are having.
"She has been their counselor for just over a year and a half, so some of the improvement has to be credited to the coaching staff for paying attention to academics."
The feeling is mutual from Coach Pearl and the coaching staff, as they have made academics one of their fundamental building blocks since they came to Auburn.
"Dr. Waters and Dr. Flynn made our academic turnaround a priority, and caring, hard-working advisors like Courtney Gage held our students accountable," Pearl said.
Books, Basketball, Body and Bible. Auburn basketball is winning on and off the court with student-athletes.