The record-setting season of the University of Vermont men’s basketball team may have ended on the court in the NCAA Tournament, but its perfect graduation rate helped take it all the way to the national championship in the classroom, according to an academic-based bracket by Time magazine.
The Time tournament, based on an academic formula applied to each of the 68 teams in this year’s NCAA field, has UVM beating Winthrop in the Final Four before falling in the national championship to Bucknell. The Catamounts were one of only 12 teams with a 100 percent player graduation success rate from an institution with an overall male graduation rate above 75 percent.
“We are very proud of the academic reputation of UVM and the achievements of our student-athletes in the classroom,” said head coach John Becker, who considers the graduation of all of his players since taking over in 2012 as one of his proudest achievements.
“Helping student-athletes succeed academically and graduate on time are core values at the University of Vermont,” said UVM President Tom Sullivan. “John Becker is very much representative of those values. His teaching and mentoring abilities are every bit as strong as his coaching skills. We’re very proud of what he has accomplished, on and off the basketball court.”
Time relied on an academic formula developed by the non-partisan think tank New America to determine its final bracket in the article “Here’s Who Wins March Madness in the Classroom.” UVM was joined in the Elite Eight by Duke, who lost to Bucknell in the other semifinal, along with Mount St. Mary’s, Creighton, Xavier, Dayton and Winthrop.
New America gave teams with the best Graduation Success Rates a higher ranking to start the tournament. It then subtracted points from schools that graduate men’s basketball players at a significantly different rate (higher or lower) than the overall men’s graduation rate at the school. To reward institutions who make a commitment to academics, it factored in a small final bonus for schools with overall graduation rates above 70 percent.
Vermont's success in the classroom and on the court resulted in an unprecedented season. The Catamounts set school and America East Conference records for overall wins (29) while becoming the first team to go undefeated in league play at 16-0. It also entered the NCAA Tournament with the longest winning streak in the nation at 21 games.
UVM also became the first team to sweep all of the major America East awards: John Becker (Coach of the Year), Trae Bell-Haynes (Player of the Year), Anthony Lamb (Rookie of the Year), Darren Payen (Sixth Man of the Year), and Dre Wills (Defensive Player of the Year). Ernie Duncan and Payton Henson were also named to the All-Conference Third Team.
Academic and athletic success has gone hand-in-hand at UVM for decades. The university won the inaugural America East Academic Cup in 1996 and proceeded to capture a record seven-straight wins starting in 2005, including the highest grade-point average (3.19) in the history of the award in 2011. UVM student-athletes continue to produce an overall GPA above 3.0.