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A Letter From Athletic Director Bob Driscoll Regarding APR For Men’s Basketball #pcbb

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A Letter From Athletic Director Bob Driscoll Regarding APR For Men’s Basketball

Driscoll addresses some misrepresentations in a recent USA Today article.

March 20, 2014

Dear Friar Fans, Supporters, Alumni and Friends:

Thank you for your continued support of the Friars as we prepare for our NCAA Tournament game against North Carolina on Friday. Your generosity and support has helped us reach our first NCAA tournament in 10 years and will continue to help propel our program to unprecedented heights.

I wanted to publicly address an article that has been circulating regarding the APR and how it is now connected to postseason eligibility. Furthermore, I wanted to point out some of the article’s misrepresentations with regard to our Men’s Basketball Program and our APR performance under these recently adopted APR benchmarks.

The article (http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2014/03/17/study-8-ncaa-teams-fall-below-graduation-standard/6534929/) outlines a study conducted by Richard Lapchick which claims that “Teams in this year’s field that would be subject to NCAA-imposed sanctions that could keep them from postseason play are: Cal Poly (925), Coastal Carolina (921), North Carolina Central (903), Oklahoma State (928), Providence (915), Texas Southern (900), Connecticut (897) and Oregon (918).” Even though the scores in this statement are accurate, they aren’t an accurate representation of the actual performance of each of these schools, including Providence College, with regard to the APR and its recently adopted connection to postseason eligibility. Each school mentioned above meets the applicable APR access to postseason benchmarks for 2013-14 postseason competition, which the article does not clearly state. In addition, the article states that “The NCAA recently voted to institute stricter policies with regards to APR performance and postseason participation. The new legislation will require teams to have a four-year APR above 930 to qualify for postseason participation the following year.” This statement is simply not accurate, both because of the timing of the reporting, review and validation of APR data, and because of the way the APR benchmarks are being phased in over several years.

In order to help better understand this recently adopted rule and more accurately portray our Men’s Basketball Program’s APR performance, I have included below a detailed explanation of the recently adopted APR access to postseason rule, when it is reported to the NCAA, validated and made public, which reporting years determine eligibility for postseason competition, and why we are confident that our Men’s Basketball Program at Providence College is primed for continued success in the postseason for years to come.
Thanks again for your support. Please contact me if you have any further questions.

GO FRIARS!

Bob Driscoll Associate Vice President / Director of Athletics

APR – Access to Postseason: General Overview

The APR access to postseason rule was adopted by the NCAA on October 27, 2011 and it established APR benchmarks for all sports to be eligible to participate in postseason competition. These benchmarks were slowly implemented in what the NCAA termed a transitional phase over a few years. Every year, institutions must report all APR data to the NCAA. This reporting deadline is approximately six weeks after the start of classes for the following academic year, which normally falls in mid-October. After the data is submitted, the NCAA reviews and validates the information and publicizes the official scores in June of the following calendar year. Therefore, because the reporting, review and validation process stretches across an entire academic year, the official reporting year and the year the APR score affects eligibility for postseason competition are actually two years apart. For example, the 2011-12 official, publicized APR score determines a team’s postseason eligibility for the 2013-14 year.

Providence College Men’s Basketball APR Timeline

2011-12 The rule was adopted during the 2011-12 academic year, therefore access to 2011-12 postseason competition was not connected to APR performance.

2012-13 In 2012-13, all sports were required to have a multi-year APR score of 900 or a most recent 2-year average of 930 to be eligible for postseason competition.

Publicly Reported APR Year Used: 2010-11

Providence College Multi-Year APR: 925

2013-14 In 2013-14, all sports are required to have a multi-year APR score of 900 or a most recent 2-year average of 930 to be eligible for postseason competition.

Publicly Reported APR Year: 2011-12

Providence College Multi-Year APR: 915

2014-15 In 2014-15, all sports are required to have a multi-year APR score of 930 or a most recent 2-year average of 940 to be eligible for postseason competition.

Publicly Reported APR Year: 2012-13

Providence College Multi-Year APR: 947 (Projected – Official Score to be Released in June 2014)

2015-16 and Beyond In 2015-16 and beyond, all sports are required to have a multi-year APR score of 930 to be eligible for postseason competition.

Publicly Reported APR Year: 2013-14

Providence College Multi-Year APR: TBD

Ed Cooley

Statement of Head Men’s Basketball Coach Ed Cooley re: Allegations of Sexual Assault #pcbb

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March 18, 2014

I grew up in Providence, so I fully know and appreciate that Providence College is a very special place for everyone – students, alumni, faculty and staff. Everything that Providence College stands for is what inspired me to pursue the opportunity to earn the position of men’s basketball coach.

So, naturally I was saddened by this situation. But, this does provide the opportunity to stress that we will not compromise the promise that we’ve made to ourselves, our school, our students and their families to build and run the most respected men’s basketball program in the nation. A program that will expect our student athletes to meet the highest standards, both on and off the court.

This promise was the foundation of my decision in November to suspend the two young men indefinitely for failing to meet the standards expected of student-athletes while the college’s internal disciplinary process took place.

So, while I cannot talk about this situation further, it is a reminder that the privilege of representing Providence College comes with great responsibility for our student-athletes. And any decision I make will be driven by whether it is the right one for Providence College and its students.

I can tell you that I did receive a phone call from Coach Altman. I explained that I could not speak to the details of the suspension but that we were taking the matter very seriously. I cannot speak for that basketball program at another University or why they made the decision they did.

#pcbb

Friar Bracket Challenge: Which Friar Win is the Greatest of All Time? #pcbb

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Ed Cooley

Ed Cooley Introductory Press Conference: “We’re Gonna Stand On Top of (the Big East) One Day.” #pcbb

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You may not recognize him since he has lost the equivalent to half a person since this press conference happened but you will recognize his incredible passion, emotion and fire. I guarantee this 8 minute video will give you chills.

2:11 mark – “Not only will we win here, not only do I believe we’re gonna win here, but we’re gonna win and we’re gonna win big.”

2:48 mark – “Make sure you have a ticket as we go through this journey…The writers that are here…we need you to have positive articles about our development. There’s gonna be some bumps in the road. That’s what it’s about. That’s why you enjoy the journey. If you sprint right to the top you can’t look behind you and see how far you’ve come. Let’s do this thing the right way, piece by piece, brick by brick. We want to become the most dominant, most physical, most disciplined team, not this year, not next year, every year. That’s who we want to become.”

4:26 mark – “Once we understand that this is a family, once we understand that this is a community, once we understand that we will absolutely set this place on fire and if you’re late, don’t come in. Don’t come in.”

5:25 mark – (to the players) “Make your free throws. Make sure we go to class. You will be the example. You will be the kings. You all will be somebody that young men would want to become. I wanted to be a Providence College Friar. I wasn’t good enough. One of my teammates was, Abdul Abdullah. I hope he’s in here. I think Abdul won a Big East Championship if I don’t stand correct. We don’t want one, we don’t want two, we don’t want three, as long as I’m here, I want em all. And that can start as easy as tomorrow, that can start today. You have to have a goal, have to have a vision. But you have to do that collectively. Players are everything to me.”

7:26 mark – “We’ll get this done. It’s not gonna be easy. We play in the toughest conference in the country. But we’re gonna stand on top of that conference one day. And if you believe it, you’ll see it. If you see it, you’ll do it. If you want to be part of it, make sure you go buy a season ticket. Thank you.”

Links of the Day

#pcbb Links of the Day 3/16/14

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Game Previews & Recaps

Player Quotes from Postgame #pcbb

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PROVIDENCE FRIARS
BRYCE COTTON LaDONTAE HENTON KADEEM BATTS
THE MODERATOR: We’ll start with Bryce Cotton, the Dave Gavitt Trophy winner.
Q. Bryce,Isawyouhadalotof confidence coming out early in the second half. What inspired that early confidence?
BRYCE COTTON: We got off to a good run in the first half. We had a great pep talk going into the locker room. And we just told each other, we’re 20 minutes away from something we’ve dreamed up for a long time. That was enough motivation to put a little pep in our step.
Q. That shot with 45 seconds left. They cut it to two. Any hesitation or were you pretty confident? You didn’t have the best shooting night tonight.
LaDONTAE HENTON: I mean, when you score the ball and your teammates believe in you, and they put you in spots to score the ball, you just want to come through for them. It was a tough night and a big game at Madison Square Garden. I just wanted to make the shot.
I practice that shot all the time. So it just comes from repetition.
Q. Bryce, coming into the week, there was a question whether Providence would make the Tournament. Now there’s no question; you get the automatic bid. Just talk about what it will be like going to sleep tonight and knowing that and watching on Selection Sunday there’s no doubt you’ll be in.
BRYCE COTTON: It feels great. Given everything what this team has gone through, all the adversity, obstacles we faced, for us to reach this moment now, we’re just going to cherish this moment for the time being. We’ll regroup when it’s time.
Q. LaDontae, talk to us about the team defense against one of the most explosive basketball teams in the country. You guys guarded them all night. Just talk about the team and the individual defense.
Continue reading Player Quotes from Postgame #pcbb →

Links of the Day

#pcbb Links of the Day 3/15/14

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