APR questions.

[bengalcub]

Can someone explain to me how the APR works for football?

I was looking over the past two recruiting classes and noticed that 45-50% of the kids that ISU has recruited have left the program. I am not including kids that came in late. How does the calculation work, does it count once they are enrolled and does it only count for kids that are on scholarship? Does it start to matter when a player starts practice in the spring or fall and how does it work for kids that only take part it a few practices prior to leaving?

Just looking for clarification. I would hate to see APR issues hurt a rebuilding program down the road.

If anyone can clarify, I would appreciate it.

 

[isusid]

I'm not the expert, but each scholarship athlete is worth two points per semester, one for staying in school, one for being eligible. Let's use Russel Hill as an example...

Russel got us four points for the 2008-09 year. He showed up eligible in the fall, so we got a point for him being in school, and one for being eligible. Since he stayed in school for the spring, and he was again eligible, he got us two more points, so he was 2-for-2 each semester.

Now, if a guy becomes ineligible but stays in school, he is a 1-for-2. If a kid leaves the program, but stays in school and is still eligible, he is a 2-for-2. If a kid transfers and his GPA is above a 2.6, he is a 1-for-1 (that's a new NCAA rule that made some sense).

Non-scholarship kids don't count, but what it does is if you are a non-scholarship kid and work hard and get good grades, you have a good shot at getting scholarshipped because of the APR rule.

Only when you have a kid go 0-for-2 do you get in trouble. While ISU had lost some kids over the past year, because they were eligible, they were just 1-for-2s after having been 2-for-2s before. If you have an 0-for-2, and you are under the 925 mark, that's when you potentially run into trouble for losing a scholarship. Still, in getting to that rolling 925 mark, every point counts.

A great look at why the APR is not a good indicator of things is men's basketball. Joe O'Brien's two APR scores are like a 902 and a 956. If he scores a perfect 1000 next year, ISU's four-year APR is still under the 925 mark because of the last year under Doug Oliver and us not having a coach on board for a little while. Joe is very good with the APR, and understands it very well, and as such, ISU's APR in men's basketball is great.

As for when it starts for a kid...I think if he is on scholarship and shows up and practices, that starts the APR clock so to speak, but I'm not 100% sure.

ISUSID

 

[bengalcub]

Thanks for the update. My question is this...is Idaho State Football in any danger of being penalized if the program maintain an attrition rate of 40-45% with new recruits? Is this anything to be concerned about?

 

[isusid]

It's always a concern for any sport with the attrition rate, but remember too that many kids that start as walk-ons get scholarshipped. The loss of the guys from the two incidents in the spring definitely hurt, but if they were eligible when dismissed, than it isn't horrible. Again, as long as you avoid 0-for-2's, you are OK.

APR is always a concern, but you can't let the APR force you into keeping kids who are creating issues...it is something that makes coaching now much different than five years ago.

ISUSID

 

[bengalcub]

I understand, I am not saying that bad eggs need to stay in the carton.

The good news is that kids the earn scholarships from walk-on status help those figures out. It would seem to me that a good walk-on program would be critical in this regard.

I just hope that I am seeing things that aren't there. I'll bet that is the case. It doesn't sound like it is something that anyone is overly excited about, so that is a good thing.