Academics really do mean more at Kentucky

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The Kentucky women's swim team not only won the SEC championship but also led all UK sports teams with a 3.794 GPA. (UK Athletics Photo)

Student-athlete really does mean something at the University of Kentucky. Credit athletics director Mitch Barnhart for his emphasis on academic success as well as athletic success because UK Athletics just surpassed its goal of a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average for the 18th straight semester.

Overall, UK student-athletes had a 3.259 GPA. Women’s sports were phenomenal with a 3.500 mark while the men’s teams came in at 3.088 overall.

Give the individual coaches credit as well for making sure their players pay attention to academics. Remember how the volleyball players had to keep up with schoolwork while they were in the NCAA Tournament bubble in Omaha. Or how athletes have had to cope with many more online classes and disruptions during COVID.

The lowest two teams were men’s basketball and football. Men’s basketball just missed the 3.0 mark at 2.959 while football came in the lowest of any sport at UK with a 2.712 mark. But if your worst GPA turns out to be 2.7, that’s not too shabby.

The national championship volleyball team had a 3.264 GPA for the spring semester. Softball is playing in the Super Regional this weekend and it had a 3.535 mark. Women’s swimming won its first SEC championship and led all UK sports teams with a 3.794 mark. That’s basically 4 A’s and 1 B for every five courses everyone on the women’s swim team took the spring semester.

Baseball is not making the NCAA Tournament but led the men’s GPA at 3.441. That’s one reason I don’t think coach Nick Mingione’s job is at risk like some others believe.

Want to be more impressed? During the spring semester, UK had 366 student-athletes with a GPA of 3.0 or higher, including 118 who had a perfect 4.0. That’s an average of about six athletes per sport with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

“In what has been, almost certainly, the most challenging year to be a student-athlete, I’m proud of how the Wildcats have performed in the classroom,” Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart said in a statement released by UK. “It also has been a unique time for our CATS staff, and I appreciate the work they did to help our student-athletes adapt to the changes.”

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