COLUMBIA - Missouri men's basketball academic progress rate is close to putting the team in postseason jeopardy.
The team's Academic Progress Rate from 2015-16 dropped to 930. That drags the four-year APR, which tracks eligibility, retention and graduation to measure academic performance, to 934, lowest in all six major basketball conference. The score is a 12-point drop from last year and just barely above the 930 threshold to remain eligible for the postseason and avoid other NCAA sanctions.
Since programs are docked points for players leaving while they are still have eligibility, the four-year score is still affected by the roster attrition that took place in Frank Haith's final season as head coach and in the first two seasons for former head coach Kim Anderson. K.J. Walton and Frankie Hughes transferred from Missouri after the 2016-17 season, which will negatively affect that team's score.
The rest of Missouri's programs, however, are not dealing with APR issues.
Missouri's average team ranking of 5.12 was second only to Vanderbilt's 3.77 ranking in the SEC. Volleyball, soccer, women's golf and women's tennis all posted a perfect score of 1,000. Wrestling's score of 988 placed first in the Mid-American Conference, the conference it competes in.
"Mizzou Athletics' strong academic performance is a credit to the dedication of our student-athletes, academic commitment of our coaches and outstanding work of our academic support and Mizzou Made teams," Missouri director of athletics Jim Sterk said in a statement. "We are also grateful to the outstanding Mizzou faculty members who continue to have an important role in the academic development of our student-athletes and work hard every day to provide the best possible classroom experience for all Mizzou students."