Green Bay Tops WBCA Honor Roll; Youngstown State Earns Top 25 Spot

INDIANAPOLIS – Green Bay women’s basketball posted the nation’s top GPA among Division I teams (3.819) and leads the 2016-17 WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll. Youngstown State also earned a Top 25 spot in the Honor Roll, with a combined 3.492 GPA.

GREEN BAY EARNS TOP SPOT ON WBCA ACADEMIC TOP 25

GREEN BAY, Wis. (Courtesy GreenBayPhoenix.com) – After another successful year in the classroom, the Green Bay women's basketball program made its third consecutive appearance on the WBCA Honor Roll and 13th overall, coming in at the top spot in the nation with a program-best 3.819 team grade-point average for the 2017-18 season.

"We are very proud of our team, our staff and the university for working closely together to help achieve our high goals on the court and in the classroom," head coach Kevin Borseth said.

"This is the third time since 2000 when academic rankings began that Green Bay has finished No. 1 in the classroom... National Champions. The success of our program has been built from day one on high standards, and to be able to achieve and get recognized in this capacity is very rewarding and special.  We are Green Bay."

Green Bay is one of eight top-25 teams on the Division I honor roll who played in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. This marks the third time in program history the Phoenix received the top honor from the WBCA. Green Bay was one of two Horizon League women's basketball programs represented in the top 25 with Youngstown State finishing in a tie for 24th overall.

"The WBCA family is committed to the student-athlete experience and celebrates these teams that have demonstrated excellence in the classroom," said WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew. "This year's WBCA Academic Top 25 is a powerful list of teams and their head coaches who have winning cultures that prepare their student-athletes for success in life."

The WBCA Academic Top 25 recognizes NCAA Division I, II and III; NAIA and junior/community college women's basketball teams across the nation that carry the highest combined GPAs inclusive of all student-athletes on their rosters for the entire season. The 2015-16 season is the 21st in which the WBCA as compiled the honor rolls.

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 GPA's 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.

Youngstown State Earns Spot on WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll
(Courtesy Youngstown State Media Relations) -- For the sixth time in the last seven years, the Youngstown State women's basketball team posted one of the 25 best grade-point averages in the country. The Penguins tied for 24th on the 2016-17 Women's Basketball Coaches Association Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll that was released on Wednesday.

YSU registered a team GPA of 3.492 during the academic year, which matched Kentucky for the 24th-best mark among all 349 Division I teams. Youngstown State is one of just six Division I programs in the nation to be in the academic top 25 six times in the past seven years.

"It's hard to express how proud I am of the team and staff for making the WBCA Academic Top 25 again this season and for the sixth time in the last seven years!" YSU head coach John Barnes said. "The team has done a fantastic job of staying focused and excelling in the classroom despite the tough job of being Division I student-athletes. Only six teams in the nation have been in the top 25 six of the last seven years, so it just goes to show hard it is and what a special achievement it is."

Youngstown State made its first appearance in the academic top 25 in 2010-11, and it has been on the list each season except 2013-14 since. The Penguins were third in 2015-16, sixth in 2011-12, 17th in both 2010-11 and 2012-13, and 22nd in 2014-15.

Green Bay was the only other Horizon League member on the list, and it led the country with a 3.819 team GPA. Bowling Green joined YSU as the only institutions from Ohio on the prestigious list. Youngstown State, Bowling Green, DePaul, Eastern Washington, Northern Iowa and St. Francis Brooklyn are the programs that have been in the academic top 25 six times in the last seven years.

Individually, Mary Dunn, Kelsea Newman and Melinda Trimmer carried a 4.0 GPA in both semesters. Sarah Cash and Izzy Meese both had a 4.0 during the fall, and Alison Smolinski and Kelley Wrightposted a 4.0 in the spring. Youngstown State had 14 of its 16 student-athletes earn at least a 3.0 in each semester.

The WBCA Academic Top 25 recognizes NCAA Division I, II and III; NAIA and junior/community college women's basketball teams across the nation that carry the highest combined GPAs inclusive of all student-athletes on their rosters for the entire season. The 2016-17 season is the 22nd in which the WBCA has compiled the honor rolls.

"The WBCA family is committed to the student-athlete experience and celebrates these teams that have demonstrated excellence in the classroom," said WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew. "This year's WBCA Academic Top 25 is a powerful list of teams, and their head coaches who have winning cultures that prepare their student-athletes for success in life."