The FGCU women’s basketball team continues to impress. This week, the team was acknowledged for its success off the court with a position on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Academic Team Honor Roll.
The Eagles finished the 2014-2015 academic year with a cumulative grade point average of 3.552, ranking the program 9th among all NCAA Division I programs.
This is the team’s fourth year in Division I eligibility and play. After the 2012-2013 academic year, the team ranked 11th and held a cumulative grade point average of 3.621. After its first year of Division-I play, the team ranked 9th, academically, among the 343 programs.
The academic honor goes hand in hand with the outstanding season the team finished with in 2015. The women earned their fifth consecutive regular season program title, their third Atlantic Sun Conference Championship; and once again, the women took a trip to the NCAA tournament.
The program earned its first-ever Division I national ranking, stepping in as the No. 20 team and finishing the season at No. 21.
It finished a record of 31-3 for the program’s third 30-win season, including a 26-game winning streak to rank 3rd in the nation. The program went undefeated in A-Sun conference play for the third time, winning all regular season games.
The academic ranking is as follows…
Rank | Institution | 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 | FGCU | 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 | 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 Illin’ois 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 |