Winning on the court. Winning in the classroom. 'Sup, DePaul?
The University of Louisville men's basketball team earned the 2011-12 BIG EAST Conference Team Academic Excellence Award, which recognizes the highest collective grade-point averages in each of the conference's 24 sports. It is the second consecutive year the Cardinals have achieved the honor.
The winners were chosen based on the combined 2011-12 grade-point average of each student-athlete who appeared on an institution's roster as of the last contest of the championship segment in each conference-sponsored sport.
The men's basketball team has hovered around a collective 3.0 GPA for eight straight semesters, including a 3.13 GPA for the most recent spring 2012 semester when 13 of the Cardinals achieved a 3.0. Fourteen of 17 men's basketball players earned at least a 3.0 GPA in the 2011 fall semester when the team produced a collective 3.16 GPA.
U of L's successful 2011-12 team won the BIG EAST Conference tournament championship and reached the Cardinals' ninth NCAA Final Four. The Cardinals' 30-10 record marked just the sixth time in school history that UofL had won 30 games in a season.
Twelve BIG EAST schools had at least one team receive the academic honor among the 24 sports.