ATLANTA – The Drake University women's basketball program ranked fourth in the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches Association Academic Top 25 Team Honor Rolls presented by AT&T for the 2014-15 season, the WBCA announced on Tuesday, July 14.
The prestigious academic accolade annually recognizes NCAA Division I, II and III; NAIA; and junior/community college women's basketball teams across the nation that carry the highest combined grade point average (GPA) inclusive of all student-athletes on their rosters for the entire season. The 2014-15 season is the 20th in which the WBCA has compiled the honor rolls.
“I'm so proud of our young women for this incredible recognition,” said head coach Jennie Baranczyk. “At Drake we are able to focus on the whole student-athlete experience with a significant emphasis on their overall educational pursuits. This award is not only a great accomplishment for our program, but is a major pride point for the university.”
Drake, who finished with a 3.599 team GPA in the 2014-15 academic year, had the highest GPA in the Missouri Valley Conference. In-state rival UNI ranked 12th with a 3.519 GPA. The Bulldogs ranked sixth in the WBCA Top 25 Honor Roll in 2013-14.
A team's GPA is calculated by dividing the total number of quality points earned by the total number of hours attempted by all team members in the academic terms (semesters or quarters) that the season spans. Weighted grades are converted to a 4.0 scale. The GPA's are rounded to the nearest thousandth of a point. Teams are nominated for the honor by a WBCA-member head coach and a team must have a 3.000 or better GPA to be nominated.
Below is the complete 2014-15 WBCA Academic Top 25 for NCAA Division I:
| |
Institution
|
2014-15 Head Coach
|
Team GPA
|
|
1
|
University of Missouri-Kansas City
|
Marsha Frese
|
3.726
|
|
2
|
St. Francis College
|
John Thurson
|
3.656
|
|
3
|
DePaul University
|
Doug Bruno
|
3.622
|
|
4
|
Drake University
|
Jennie Baranczyk
|
3.599
|
|
5
|
Bowling Green State University
|
Jennifer Roos
|
3.594
|
|
6
|
Saint Louis University
|
Lisa Stone
|
3.564
|
|
7
|
Arizona State University
|
Charli Turner Thorne
|
3.558
|
|
8
|
Eastern Washington University
|
Wendy Schuller
|
3.554
|
|
9
|
Florida Gulf Coast University
|
Karl Smesko
|
3.552
|
|
T10
|
Western Illinois University
|
JD Gravina
|
3.530
|
|
T10
|
University of Wisconsin, Green Bay
|
Kevin Borseth
|
3.530
|
|
12
|
University of Northern Iowa
|
Tanya Warren
|
3.519
|
|
13
|
University of North Dakota
|
J. Travis Brewster
|
3.517
|
|
14
|
Jacksonville State University
|
Rick Pietri
|
3.511
|
|
15
|
Belmont University
|
Cameron Newbauer
|
3.501
|
|
16
|
Northwestern State University
|
Brooke Stoehr
|
3.461
|
|
17
|
Houston Baptist University
|
Donna Finnie
|
3.445
|
|
18
|
University of Toledo
|
Tricia Cullop
|
3.443
|
|
19
|
Northern Illinois University
|
Kathi Bennett
|
3.438
|
|
20
|
University of Northern Colorado
|
Kamie Ethridge
|
3.431
|
|
21
|
South Dakota State University
|
Aaron Johnston
|
3.427
|
|
22
|
Youngstown State University
|
John Barnes
|
3.422
|
|
23
|
St. Bonaventure University
|
Jim Crowley
|
3.406
|
|
24
|
University of Maine
|
Richard Barron
|
3.399
|
|
25
|
Lehigh University
|
Susan Troyan
|
3.396
|
