By Shawn Harrison sports editor
It’s become as regular as the seasons. When a semester ends at Utah State, there are going to be a
good number of Aggie athletes honored for their achievements in the classroom. The honors come from
the Western Athletic Conference, as well as regional and national organizations.
Obviously, this brings a smile to the face of USU athletics director Randy Spetman.
ics is first,” Spetman said. “We are trying to provide an education for our athletes so they can be
successful after graduating from here.”
Then Spetman brings to mind an NCAA television advertisement you see.
“Everybody hopes they can go professional, but less than one percent get to do that,” he said.
While success on the playing field, court or track is strongly encouraged, so is doing well
academically. Many Aggies have taken that to heart.
Last month 46 percent of the 319 student-athletes at USU were honored for achieving a 3.2
grade-point average.
“It is more than an athletics department philosophy, the university helps with professors, from the
president and provost on down,” Spetman said. “Dr. Brian Evans does an incredible job with
communicating with the faculty, so that we don’t have problems. That is the key to our success. I’ve
been here three years, and I’ve never had one problem with a professor. They let us know when they
have an athlete not being responsible in their class or not showing up. That’s very healthy for us.
”Spetman said one of the main reasons he was excited about coming to USU was how well academics and
athletics worked together. USU leads the WAC in graduation rate and ranks among the top 10
nationally. The latest figures show 78 percent of Aggie athletes are graduating.
“That makes me proud,” Spetman said. “... We all know we need more wins in football, but we are
getting kids who are doing well academically, graduating. We are getting people with character and
leadership, and all the coaches are taking responsibility. It is not something I have to fight.
”Another feather in Spetman’s cap is how well USU is doing in the latest report released concerning
the multi-year Academic Progress Rates (APR). The results show the Aggie student-athletes are
remaining in school and progressing toward a degree.
“We are doing well, but we know basketball and football need to increase their APR, and they are”
Spetman said. “This is a six-year snapshot, so you can’t fix it in one year by bringing in a bunch
of geniuses.
”USU men’s head basketball coach Stew Morrill acknowledged he is aware of the APR and his team will
take a bit of a hit with five athletes recently leaving the team. However, over the years he has
graduated a high number.Every Division I sports team calculates its APR annually, based on the
eligibility, retention and graduation of each student-athlete on scholarship.
“I’m pleased with our APR for this past year, but know we can do better,” said Evans, associate thletics director for student-athlete services. “We haven’t made the top-10 percent yet with any
individual teams, so that is something we’ll strive for.
”Doing well on the APR is important, because it could lead to losing scholarships. USU was one of
just four schools in the WAC to not receive any warnings or scholarship reductions from the NCAA
this spring.
The Aggies were also singled out this spring for doing well with gender equity. They were among 11
Division I schools from across the country to receive an A grade. USU ranked eighth overall, and the
WAC ranked first as Nevada was tops in the nation.
Spetman has also stressed getting involved in the community. Some coaches like football’s Brent Guy
requires his athletes to do so many hours volunteering or making appearances. The Aggie AD credited
USU academic coordinator Amy Crosbie for helping get athletes out in the community.
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