It's been just over a year since the NCAA denied the UConn men's basketball team's appeal to overturn a postseason ban for the 2012-13 season due to low Academic Progress Rates (APR) under Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun.
But a lot has happened in the intervening months: four contributors left the program for either the NBA or transferred to other schools, Calhoun retired, and first-year coach Kevin Ollie was left with a young, inexperienced teams with way more questions than answers. And all he did was lead them to 20 wins, a feat that would have unquestionably resulted in the Huskies qualifying for the Big Dance.
Well, that shouldn't be a problem going forward; the NCAA will release its most recent APR scores next Tuesday and the Huskies should be in fine shape. Worth mentioning: Because of a lag -- one that UConn officials pointed to in their appeal last year -- these APR scores will be for the 2011-12 academic year, Calhoun's last with the team. And the results, according to the Hartford Courant's Dom Amore, are expected to be what they were the previous year: around 978, which is great news.
More via Amore:
This would put UConn, which was ineligible for the NCAA Tournament last season as a result of an 889 four-year average and 902 two-year score, out of danger for the coming year. With a score of, say, 975, UConn’s four-year average (including 826 in 2008-09;, 844 for 2009-10; and 978 for 2010-11) would move over 900, and its two-year average well over the needed 930. Two good scores, two bad.
The scores for the just-completed academic year will be released in June 2014 and UConn expects its APR for men’s basketball will be at least as high as the last two, as that 826 comes out of the equation. Even if the program ends up losing a retention point for Enosch Wolf, it should still have a strong score for 2012-13.
All things considered, the program is in pretty good shape. And with all five starters returning and a solid recruiting class -- in '13 and '14 -- Ollie appears to have the Huskies poised to return to the national stage.
