Green Bay, Drury, Northland, Northwestern, Salt Lake sit atop 2012 WBCA Academic Team Honor Rolls

ATLANTA (July 17, 2012) - University of Wisconsin, Green Bay; Drury University; Northland College; Northwestern College and Salt Lake Community College are the top honorees in their respective divisions on the WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Rolls for the 2011-12 season, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced today.

The WBCA Academic Top 25 annually recognizes NCAA Divisions I, II and III; NAIA; and junior/community college women's basketball teams across the nation that carry the highest combined grade point averages (GPAs) inclusive of all student-athletes on their rosters for the entire season. The 2011-12 season is the 17th in which the WBCA has produced the honor rolls.

Here are the top honorees by division, their head coaches and combined GPAs:

Drury and Salt Lake are No. 1 on the NCAA Division II and junior/community college honor rolls respectively for the third time. It is Drury's eighth appearance on the NCAA Division II honor roll; and its first since a No. 2 ranking in 2006. The Lady Panthers finished atop the Division II standings in 2004 and 2005. Salt Lake is making its 10th appearance on the junior/community college honor. The Bruins were No. 1 in the junior/community college standings in 2000 and 2003. This season marks Green Bay's second No. 1 finish on the NCAA Division I honor roll; its first occurring in 2001. Meanwhile, Northland and Northwestern (Iowa) finish atop the NCAA Division III and NAIA standings respectively for the first time.

"I look forward to the release of the Academic Top 25 each summer," said WBCA CEO Beth Bass. "Because our society places so much emphasis on winning games and championships, it is a refreshing change of pace when we recognize those teams that excel in the classroom.

"Like winning on the court, academic success on a team level does not happen by accident. It requires a group of student-athletes who realize the importance of education and earning their degrees, coaches who expect and encourage their players to attend class and study, and administrators who provide strong academic support programs for their athletes," said Bass.

"The teams composing the Academic Top 25 each year are always the real winners in women's college basketball."

A team's GPA is calculated by dividing the total number of quality points earned by the total number of hours attempted by all team members in the academic terms (semesters or quarters) that the season spans. Weighted grades are converted to a 4.0 scale. The GPAs are rounded to the nearest thousandth of a point. Teams are nominated for the honor by a WBCA-member head coach. A team must have a 3.000 or better GPA to be nominated.

NCAA Division I

Green Bay leads the 2012 NCAA Division I honor roll with a 3.616 GPA. It is the 10th appearance on the Division I honor roll for the Phoenix and their third under former head coach Matt Bollant, who left after five seasons to become head coach at the University of Illinois. The Horizon League champions finished the season with a 33-2 record, losing to Kentucky, 65-62, in the second round of the NCAA Kingston Regional.

Five of the top 25 teams on the Division I honor roll earned a berth in the 2012 NCAA tournament.

Here is the complete 2012 WBCA Academic Top 25 for NCAA Division I (**-NCAA tournament; *-left after season):

NCAA Division II

Drury University, coached by Steve Harold, not only finishes atop the Division II honor roll, but its 3.709 team GPA is the highest of any team in all five divisional honor rolls. The Panthers finished the season with a 20-8 record. They lost to Ferris State in the first round of the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional.

Eleven of the 26 teams making the honor roll earned postseason berths in the NCAA Division II tournament, with No. 18 Ashland advancing to the national championship game.

Here is the complete 2012 WBCA Academic Top 25 for NCAA Division II (**-NCAA tournament; *-left after season):

NCAA Division III

Northland College, with a division-best 3.706 GPA, is making its fourth appearance on the NCAA Division III honor roll; its first at No. 1. Coached by Bill Wilson, the Lumberjills finished the season with a 12-13 record.

Seven of the top 25 teams earned a berth in the NCAA Division III tournament.

Here is the complete 2012 WBCA Academic Top 25 for NCAA Division III (**-NCAA tournament; *-left after season):

NAIA

Three-time NAIA Division II national champion Northwestern College (Iowa) makes its ninth appearance and first atop the NAIA honor roll with a 3.657 team GPA. The Raiders, under the direction of first-year head coach Chris Yaw, finished their championship season with a 28-7 record.

Seventeen of the top 25 teams - seven in NAIA Division I and ten in NAIA Division II - earned berths in the NAIA national tournaments in their respective divisions.

Here is the complete 2012 WBCA Academic Top 25 for NAIA (***-NAIA Division I tournament; **-NAIA Division II tournament; *-left after season):

Junior/Community College

Salt Lake Community College is making its 10th appearance, and third at No. 1, in the junior/community honor roll, which features only 12 teams due to the limited number of eligible nominations received. The Bruins, coached by Betsy Specketer, ended the season with a 24-5 record after losing in the NJCAA Region 18 finals.

Three of the 12 teams making the honor roll earned berths in the NJCAA Division II national tournament.

Here is the complete 2012 WBCA Academic Top 25 for junior/community colleges (**-NJCAA Division II tournament; *-California Community College Athletic Association tournament):

About the WBCA:
Founded in 1981, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association promotes women's basketball by unifying coaches at all levels to develop a reputable identity for the sport and to foster and promote the development of the game as a sport for women and girls. For more information on the WBCA, please visit wbca.org.