TYLER, Texas -- UT Tyler's success in its first year of NCAA Division II competition extended beyond the playing field, as 111 Patriot student-athletes earned D2 ADA Academic Achievement Awards for the 2019-20 school year.
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One of 44 Division II schools with at least 100 award winners, UT Tyler led all Lone Star Conference institutions with its total of 111. The second-highest total among LSC schools was 96 (St. Edward's).
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In 2019-20, UT Tyler student-athletes achieved a collective 3.32 GPA in the fall before posting a 3.53 spring GPA.
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"Even with the cancellation of the majority of the spring 2020 season due to COVID-19, our student-athletes were able to remain focused on their academic work," said UT Tyler Director of Athletics
Dr. Howard Patterson. "Every sport is represented on the D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award list. In all, nearly one-third of UT Tyler's student-athlete population had a 3.5 or higher GPA. That's great work, and I'm extremely proud of the student-athletes who contributed to our department's outstanding GPA in the 2019-20 school year."
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The awards, which were announced Thursday, are presented to student-athletes who have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher and have attended a minimum of two years of college. In total, there were 15,215 student-athletes from 200 institutions recognized for the 2019-20 Academic Achievement Awards. These numbers shattered the records for highest number of participating institutions and the largest number of student-athletes being nominated since the award program's inception.
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The Academic Achievement Awards program is in its 13th year as it continues to recognize the academic accomplishments of student-athletes at the Division II level.
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