According to Brian Mull of the Wilmington Star-News, UNC Wilmington’s second and final appeal for a penalty waiver in regards to their APR score has been denied.
Similar to the situation at Connecticut, UNC Wilmington now has to hope that when the Committee on Academic Performance (CAP) meets this summer they’ll make the move to allow the 2011-12 APR scores to count.
Such a move could result in the Seahawks being able to avoid a ban from postseason play, provided they post a perfect score of 1,000 for the academic year.
One key for UNC Wilmington in regards to their 2011-12 APR score will be the performance of Donte Morales, K.K. Simmons and Adam Smith, as all three have announced their intentions to transfer.
For UNCW to avoid losing points on the APR all three need to finish the year with a GPA of 2.6 or better, and none can transfer to a junior college either apparently.
Transferring from a four-year school to a junior college results in an APR penalty for the school, and that’s the case even if a player decides to do so solely to improve their prospects in regards to ending up at a four-year school with a higher basketball profile.
With the NCAA coming under more pressure to evaluate the APR and its enforcement maybe schools like UNCW receive a pardon of sorts this summer in the form of the change mentioned above.
But it isn’t a lock that the CAP makes this move, meaning that the Seahawks could very well find themselves on the outside looking in.
h/t to @bgmull
Raphielle is also the assistant editor at CollegeHoops.net and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.