After a history making season which featured an appearance in the conference tournament championship for the first time in 15 years, the Prairie View A&M men's basketball program made news off the court as they posted the top score amongst men's basketball teams in the SWAC during the annual Academic Progress Report (APR) released by the NCAA on Tuesday.

The team posted its highest APR in program history with a score of 944.  Only three basketball teams in the SWAC posted scores of 900 or higher with a 27-point difference separating the Panthers from the closest institution.

Head coach Byron Rimm II and staff has worked diligently to improve the program's APR since accepting the position of head coach seven years ago.  When APR was first instituted, the program was penalized and suffered an immediate reduction in scholarships coupled with a historical penalty (public notice) in 2007-08.  As a result, Rimm rolled up his sleeves and went a step further by installing weekly progress reports, class checks, on-campus study hall and mandatory team study hall sessions on road trips.

After receiving public notice in 2007-08, Rimm's APR jumped 22 points the following season and eclipsed the 900 mark two years later for the first time in program history.  Since then, the program has remained above the 900 mark before this year's all-time high of 944. 

“This was a total team effort by our university, the athletic department, compliance department, my coaching staff and the student-athletes,” said Rimm.  “As many can attest, APR is an important piece to a program's success and I won't rest on my laurels until we achieve a perfect APR score of 1,000.”