The Hall Finishes 2016-17 With Record Cumulative GPA

South Orange, N.J. - As part of Seton Hall Athletics' vision for excellence, the department strives to graduate each of its student-athletes while pushing them towards academic excellence. The department continues to see unprecedented success in this area as the cumulative grade-point average for the Pirates has once again reached a new record of 3.376.

For the seventh consecutive year, the Pirates have ended the academic year with a record-high cumulative GPA. The growth during this period has been outstanding, gaining over two tenths of a point in the span.

In addition, the 14 varsity programs combined for a single-year GPA of 3.380 in 2016-17, and 13 of the 14 teams have cumulative GPAs over 3.0 with seven of them at 3.4 or higher.

Among the 14 programs, the women's golf and men's golf teams lead their respective genders in cumulative GPA. The women currently stand at 3.652, and the men are at 3.584. In 2016-17, women's golf had a 3.736 single-year GPA, and men's golf had a 3.536.

The grades are in! For the 7th consecutive year, we have set a cumulative GPA record! #HALLin pic.twitter.com/InfVYU7W4d
— Seton Hall Athletics (@SHUAthletics) June 21, 2017

In the spring semester, 117 Pirates, or 47 percent of the student-athlete population, earned Dean's List recognition. Of the 117, 100 student-athletes achieved Dean's List in both the Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 semesters. Thirty-two seniors received the department's Academic Merit Award for finishing their careers with a 3.2 cumulative GPA or higher, and 23 seniors graduated Seton Hall with honors, which requires at least a cumulative GPA of 3.395.

"We strive for our student-athletes to excel in all areas of their Seton Hall experience, but there is no greater priority than the classroom, and a seventh straight record cumulative GPA is just the latest example of how they make the most of their educational opportunities," Director of Athletics & Recreation Pat Lyons said. "Thank you to all of our student-athletes, our coaches and especially our academic support services office for everything that they do to make this success possible.

"To achieve a record cumulative GPA at the end of a seventh straight academic year shows that the sky is the limit for our talented student-athletes," Director of Academic Support Services Matt Geibel said. "Our coaches continue to identify and recruit the right student-athletes who come in eager to be the best and the brightest. We are very proud of what they have accomplished and cannot wait to see what is next."

This is just the latest in Seton Hall Athletics' academic accolades and honors as the department continues to be a leader and developer of the best and brightest in the nation:

Five programs — baseball, men's basketball, men's cross country, women's cross country and women's golf — were recognized by the NCAA with the APR Public Recognition Award, sporting APR scores in the top 10 percent of their respective sports.
All 14 varsity programs have a multi-year APR scores above the national average.
Thirty-eight student-athletes were inducted into the Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society for maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher.
Erica Naumann of women's swimming & diving and Julian Spindler of men's soccer were named the Seton Hall Senior Student-Athletes of the Year after finishing with the highest cumulative GPA in the Class of 2017.
Spindler and Valerie Suto of softball were named the Male and Female BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athletes of the Year, respectively, and each received a $2,000 scholarship towards postgraduate studies.
Joe Poduslenko of baseball and Alexis Walkden of softball, were recognized as CoSIDA Academic All-District selections for the combination of academic and athletic success.

Seton Hall's End-of-Year Cumulative GPA during Pat Lyons' tenure: