University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Taking Care of Business in Classroom
June 12, 2003
Another year in athletics comes to a close as the Tennessee track and field team finishes what is shaping up to be a successful NCAA Outdoor Championship meet in Sacramento, Calif. The University of Tennessee not only took care of business on the field of competition in 2002-03, but the Vols carried their weight in the classroom as well.
Tennessee continues to prepare its student-athletes for the competitive field, but the student-athletes have been preparing for the professional arena along the way. The torch is officially passed each season as graduates move their tassels and cross the stage before entering into a professional career. For the 2002-03 academic school year, a total of 31 male student-athletes graduated from the University of Tennessee during 2002 summer and fall commencements and the 2003 spring ceremony.
The 2002 fall semester proved to be especially strong for Tennessee's student-athletes. Twenty-four student-athletes, both male and female, had 4.0 grade point averages during the 2002 fall semester. There were 96 male student-athletes named to the Thornton Athletics Student Life Center Honor Roll for the fall.
In the spring, men's team cumulative GPAs ranged from a low of 2.39 to a high of 3.19, with the golf team holding the highest. There were 70 male student-athletes who had a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above, representing 19 percent of Tennessee's student-athletes. Eighty-eight male student-athletes achieved a term GPA of 3.0 or above during the spring for a 23 percent representation.
Tennessee's freshman retention rate of student-athletes for the 2001 cohort is 91 percent, compared to the University's overall rate of 72.1 percent. There has only been one student-athlete lost for academic reasons since the group arrived on campus.
Many of the University's student-athletes have been honored for their extraordinary work in their respective studies.
Swimmer Michael Burton earned national recognition with a place on the 2002-03 Verizon Academic All-America Men's At-Large University Division first team. The senior from McMinnville, Ore., has a history of strong academics at Tennessee. He is a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and a two-time member of the Thornton Athletics Student Life Center Honor Roll. He was the UT Athletics Board top sophomore and junior and was named College Swimming Coaches Association of America Academic All-America for 2001 and 2002. Burton was 2002 edsouth Scholar Athlete of the Year at Tennessee. His 4.0 in chemistry is not only the highest grade point average on the swimming and diving team, but he also leads all senior student-athletes at Tennessee with his perfect GPA.
Fellow senior swimmer Greg Simpson earned second-team recognition on the 2002-03 Verizon Academic All-America team. Simpson holds a 3.92 in marketing at Tennessee and was recently named to his third consecutive SEC Academic Honor Roll. This year, he received the UT Athletics Board Award for having the highest GPA in his class for the past three years.
The 2002-03 Verizon Academic All-District IV Team also had a tint of orange as seven Vols student-athletes earned spots on the list. Burton and Simpson both earned first-team honors, as did junior baseball player Dusty Johnson. Sophomore baseball player Nick Crowe, sophomore football player Michael Munoz and decathlete Kevin Thompson, a graduate student, earned second-team honors. Junior tennis player Wade Orr was a third-team selection.
To be nominated to the Verizon Academic All-District IV Team, a student-athlete must be a starter or an important reserve and carry a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher on a 4.0 scale. The Verizon Academic All-District Team is a part of the Verizon Academic All-America program.
Fifty-three male student-athletes at Tennessee etched their names onto the 2003 Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll, adding to nearly 500 student-athletes from Tennessee that have preceded them on the list in the past 10 years. The honor roll is based on grades from the 2001-02 academic calendar. Football led the way with 18 members on the SEC Academic Honor Roll. The track and field team had 12 members who made the list, boosting their total to a SEC-leading 101 for track and field since head coach Bill Webb took over in 1996. The swimming and diving squad had 10 honorees.
Other individual accomplishments include senior golfer Andrew Pratt, who was awarded for his classroom efforts this year. He was named a Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar for the second consecutive year by maintaining a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale and meeting certain scoring requirements. Orr was the recipient of the inaugural Knoxville News Sentinel Academic Excellence Award, presented March 26. Thompson received a SEC Scholar-Athlete post-graduate scholarship and is a finalist for the McWhorter SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Simpson received a NCAA post-graduate scholarship for his academic successes.
By taking control of the academic realm of being student-athletes, the Vols have shown their dedication is not only on winning championships, but securing a bright future as well.
Josh Pate
