Valparaiso, UW-Green Bay recognized on WBCA 2005-06 Academic Top 25 Honor Roll
July 18, 2006
Valparaiso University - which will join the Horizon League in July 2007 - has already stepped into competition against one of the League's most established programs. The Crusader women's basketball team joined perennial League power University of Wisconsin-Green Bay among the nation's top-ranked academic teams, according to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) 2005-06 Academic Top 25 Honor Roll, released Monday (July 17).
Valpo finished fourth in the NCAA Division I standings with its 3.486 team grade-point average, while UW-Green Bay ranked tenth with a 3.362 GPA.
Both teams have made this a routine distinction as the Crusaders have ranked in the top 25 in each of the last eight years and the Phoenix in six of the last eight seasons.
Valpo head coach Keith Freeman's squad trailed only South Dakota State University (3.730), Indiana State University (3.612) and Eastern Washington University (3.474). This marks the highest ranking Valpo has received from the WBCA.
UW-Green Bay's placement marked the team's second consecutive top-ten listing after a seventh-place finish on last year's honor roll.
During the 2000-01 academic year, the UW-Green Bay women's basketball team finished with a team GPA of 3.481, which topped the WBCA Honor Roll and granted the title of academic national champions to the Phoenix. Along with the team's second-place finish in 2001-02, the team has ranked in the top 10 of the academic honor roll five times.
Few other women's basketball programs have been able to replicate UW-Green Bay's all-around success both academically and athletically, as 10 teams on the WBCA Academic Top 25 listing for this year also participated in the 2006 postseason. The Phoenix finished the 2005-06 season with a 23-7 record appeared in the Women's National Invitation Tournament.
The complete listing of the 2005-06 WBCA Top 25 Team Honor Roll for NCAA Division I follows:
School * 2005-06 Head Coach * Team GPA1. South Dakota State * Aaron Johnston * 3.730 2. Indiana State * Jim Wiedie * 3.612 3. Eastern Washington * Wendy Schuller * 3.474 4. Valparaiso * Keith Freeman * 3.468 5. Montana State * Tricia Binford * 3.459 6. New Mexico * Don Flanagan * 3.424 7. Oakland * Beckie Francis * 3.402 8. Northern Iowa * Tony DiCecco * 3.399 9. Northern Arizona * Laurie Kelly * 3.364 10. UW-Green Bay * Kevin Borseth * 3.362 11. DePaul * Doug Bruno * 3.361 12. Canisius * Terrence Zeh * 3.344 13. Denver * Pamela Tanner * 3.343 T14. Lehigh * Susan Troyan * 3.338 T14. Liberty * Carey Green * 3.338 16. Central Florida * Gail Striegler * 3.33517. Texas A&M - Corpus Christi * Robert Robinson * 3.33018. Dartmouth * Christina Wielgus * 3.323 19. Oklahoma * Sherri Coale * 3.315 20. Saint Bonaventure * Jim Crowley * 3.30721. Long Island University * Stephanie Gaitley * 3.301 22. Villanova * Harry Perretta * 3.300 23. Florida * Carolyn Peck * 3.299 T24. Bradley * Paula Buscher * 3.298 T24. Fairleigh Dickinson * Sandy Gordon * 3.298
