USF Men’s & Women’s Golf Teams Earn NCAA Public Recognition Awards for Academic Performance

Programs rank among top 10 percent nationally in APR score

TAMPA, MAY 12, 2020 – The USF men’s and women’s golf teams have both received Public Recognition Awards from the NCAA for earning a high score in the most recent Academic Progress Rate (APR) compilation.

For head coach Erika Brennan’s women’s golf team, it marked the seventh straight year earning the recognition. The team posted a perfect multi-year APR score of 1,000 for the seventh straight time and 10th time overall to rank among the top 10 percent nationally in APR performance in its respective sport. Despite a spring season that was cut short, the women’s golf team continued its uprising under Brennan, who took over the program in December 2017. The Bulls captured their third title since last spring with a wire-to-wire win at the Old Friends Invitational and saw freshman Erika Smith (Orlando) claim the individual title in that tournament at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club.

“We are grateful for this recognition by the NCAA, as we will always prioritize the ‘student’ in ‘student-athlete.’ The girls work hard in the classroom and they realize the value of earning their degree, as it presents so many opportunities for them when coupled with being a Division I athlete,” Brennan said. “Tatiana Hitchcock, our academic advisor, is on the front lines of our team’s academic progress. Her role in earning this NCAA award cannot be overstated – she deserves tremendous credit! We are grateful for her partnership with our team and we share this award with her.”

The men’s golf team, led by head coach Steve Bradley, was honored for the third time in the program’s history and for the first time since 2006. The team’s perfect multi-year APR score of 1,000 matched the program record set twice in 2004-05 and 2005-06. The Bulls capped off their shortened season with a wire-to-wire win at The Challenge at Concession. Sophomores Luke Gifford (Boca Raton) and Albin Bergstrom (Ljunghusen, Sweden) were both honored as Division I PING All-Southeast Region selections and both won individual tournament titles.

“It’s great for the program to receive recognition,” Bradley said. “The guys have worked hard in the classroom and it’s great to see their efforts recognized.” 

USF Athletics has now earned 32 NCAA Public Recognition Awards overall, garnered by eight different programs. The NCAA APR program, started in 2004-05, is in its 15th year.

The awards are intended to highlight teams that demonstrate a commitment to academic progress and retention of student-athletes by achieving the top APRs within their respective sports.  The APR provides a real-time look at a team’s academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship.  The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation and provides a measure of each team’s academic performance.

The aggregate 2018-19 Academic Progress Rate data for all NCAA Division I institutions will be announced next week. 

USF had 60 student-athletes slated to receive their degrees following the spring semester that came to a close last week.

About USF Athletics
USF Athletics sponsors 19 varsity men’s and women’s teams that compete in 11 different sports, 18 at the NCAA Division I level in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls’ athletic program began in 1965 and is in its 54th season in 2019-20. Nearly 450 student-athletes train and compete in the athletic district located on the east end of the campus in Tampa, Fla. The Bulls have claimed 19 American Athletic Conference team titles since joining the conference in 2013, and own 120 conference titles overall. Eleven USF programs reached national postseason competition in the 2018-19 season and six were ranked in the Top 25 nationally. The Bulls posted a combined annual grade-point average over 3.0 for the fourth straight year in 2018-19 and have posted a program record 10 straight semesters with a combined GPA over 3.0. USF has had nearly 350 student-athletes earn their degree since 2016-17.
 
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