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The NCAA's academic measuring stick makes Utah look good in the classroom.

The NCAA has released the most recent Academic Progress Rates for the 2014-15 school year, and Utah's sports are all in good shape, with the school's most visible sports faring particularly well.

Utah's all-sport average for APR is 987, well above the NCAA minimum standard of 930 and a department record for the third straight year. APR measures the academic eligibility of a university's student athletes for a given year with a 1000 as a highest potential score. Nine of Utah's 17 sports achieved a perfect APR for the 2014-15 school year, and three sports (men's basketball, men's golf and women's cross country) have maintained a 1000 average between 2011 and 2015.

Last week, the NCAA announced that four of Utah's programs — the perfect three plus football — were in the top 10 percent of all athletic teams in their respective sport.

Football posted a 997 for the 2014-15 year, improving its multi-year average to 983. Both figures lead the Pac-12 in a tie with Stanford. Several of Utah's recent recruits have mentioned that the football program's academic support system is a big selling point. The football team has also hit success by getting long-struggling athletes, such as Devontae Booker and Kaelin Clay, to qualify and be able to suit up.

Men's basketball is also enjoying a strong run under Krystkowiak, who while he has seen transfers in and out of the program has also gotten them to leave while academically eligible and completing coursework. Again, only Stanford has maintained the same multi-year average.

No sport has a multi-year average below 967 (women's basketball), and no sport's 2014-15 APR was below the 970 threshold. The entire DI average of all sports this year was 979 — 13 of Utah's 17 sports have higher multi-year APRs.

The studying definitely pays off, but for coaches moreso than athletes: Surpassing the football program's 970 top APR goal marks a $50,000 bonus for coach Kyle Whittingham. Larry Krystkowiak's perfect year also triggers a $30,000 bonus in his contract.

APR is not a perfect measurement of academic success: Athletes are awarded a point for staying in school, and a point for staying academically eligible. The system doesn't measure the difference between a 3.4 GPA or a 2.7 GPA, for example, or take the difficulty of biology major vs. sociology major into account, and some schools are punished for athletes who leave early to pursue careers in professional sports, where they can potentially become millionaires.

But the Utah athletic department seems to clearly understand the demands of APR and how to keep athletes eligible. Men's swimming saw a 22-point jump this year in multi-year rate, getting a perfect score for the 2014-15 year — a rebound after dropping off from the coaching scandal three years ago. Men's basketball has been perfect in the Krystkowiak era since a rash of transfers following Jim Boylen's departure.

Maybe coaches enjoying bonuses should take a few Burbidge Academic Center employees out to dinner.

kgoon@sltrib.com
Twitter: @kylegoon