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May 12, 2008
FRESNO, Calif. - Under Pat Hill, Fresno State's football program has been a model of consistency.
From reaching a bowl game in eight of the last nine seasons to being on national television as much as any team this decade, the Bulldog program is regularly recognized for its success. Under his leadership, Fresno State has climbed to national high ranking of No. 8 while annually taking on one of the most aggressive non-conference schedules of any program in the nation.
That success transcends to the classroom, where once again the Fresno State team has posted a very strong Academic Progress Rate score. The NCAA announced the APR scores last week, and to gain some perspective here a few facts that came from that data.
Hill said the APR scores are just one example of how the Academic Gameplan program that Associate Head Coach John Baxter instituted continues to work.
"We have always been proud of our academic successes," said Hill, who enters his 12th season as head coach. "Fresno State is once again among the national leaders in academic performance among Division I public institutions. The NCAA APR scores validate our program as one that continues to do things right. Our strong scores and the number of Academic All-WAC players we've had over the last 11 years is something our coaching staff and players are proud of. With Academic Gameplan, we help prepare young men for life and once they've become a part of our program they will understand the importance of getting a degree and doing things the right way."
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Under Hill, the Dogs have produced 109 Academic All-WAC players. Over the last 11 seasons that's more than any other WAC school. The 2007 total of 16 Academic All-WAC selections is one better than the previous Fresno State record of 15 set in the 2005 season. Prior to Hill's arrival, Fresno State had only produced nine Academic All-WAC players. In the Hill era, the Dogs are averaging 9.9 Academic All-WAC selections per season.
In each of the last two years, the Bulldog football program has produced two of the most decorated students on the Fresno State campus. In 2006, lineman Kevin Cooper was awarded the President's Medal as the top graduating student at Fresno State. Last spring, Bulldog kicker Clint Stitser was a finalist for the President's Medal after winning the Dean's Medal for the Craig School of Business as its top graduate. Both young men graduated with perfect 4.0 GPAs.
"We want to continue to have strong APR scores," said Hill. "We want to continue to produce players who will be great representative of Bulldog football and Fresno State. We are very proud of those who have come through our program."
Fresno State outscored all public institutions from the Mountain West Conference in APR rankings and six Pac-10 Conference schools.
Hill and the Bulldogs are gearing up for an exciting 2008 season. Fresno State is projected in most preseason Top 25 polls and will open at Big East power Rutgers on Labor Day in a game televised by ESPN.
The Bulldogs will open the 2008 home schedule against Wisconsin on Sept. 13.
2008 NCAA Academic Progress Rate Multi-Year Scores
of Division I Football Programs in the West
(Pac-10, WAC and MWC)
Team (Conference), APR Score
1. Stanford (Pac-10), 986
2. Air Force (MWC), 976
3. Cal (Pac-10), 967
4. TCU (MWC), 959
5. Boise State (WAC), 953
6. USC (Pac-10), 948
6. Washington (Pac-10), 948
8. Fresno State (WAC), 946
8. BYU (MWC), 946
10. Utah (MWC), 944
11. Colorado State (MWC), 941
11. UCLA (Pac-10), 941
13. Nevada (WAC), 934
14. Arizona State (Pac-10), 933
15. Wyoming (MWC), 927
16. Oregon State (Pac-10), 926
16. Utah State (WAC), 926
18. Hawaii (WAC), 921
18. La Tech (WAC), 921
18. New Mexico (MWC), 921
18. Oregon (Pac-10), 921
22. Washington State (Pac-10), 916
23. New Mexico State (WAC), 909
24. UNLV (MWC), 905
25. Idaho (WAC), 904
26. Arizona (Pac-10), 902
27. San Diego State (MWC), 889
28. San Jose State (WAC), 865
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