The NCAA released its annual report on the Graduation Success Rate (GSR) for all of its Division I institutions today. The results showed that WSU athletes are graduating at a better rate than the average Division I institution.
WSU athletes had a 79-percent GSR, which is 13 percent above the NCAA average. The best performing team at WSU was the women's tennis team which had a GSR of 100. WSU's softball team had a 54 percent score that marked the lowest among the university's teams.
One program that did not do so well was the school's men's basketball program, which had a 61 percent GSR. Wright State men's basketball finished eighth out of nine schools in the Horizon League for GSR. Cleveland State had the best GSR in the league at 100 percent. The only program lower than Wright State's was Milwaukee which had a 50 percent score. Milwaukee is forced to sit out the 2015 postseason due to low academic progress.
Non-basketball note
This year, I have had the opportunity to cover Wright State's men's and women's soccer programs. Both squads had their home regular season finales over the weekend. While the women's team struggled at times over the year, the young team showed promise and could potentially have a big finish to the season depending on its result at Oakland Friday.
The men's soccer team simply put on a show this year. The squad went 8-1 at home, set Alumni Field attendance records and are making some of us begin to think WSU is becoming a "soccer school."
Wright State has scored 32 goals this year to lead the Horizon League. The next highest total in the league was 22 goals. WSU is ninth nationally in goals scored.
The Raiders have an opportunity to play one more home match. WSU travels to Oakland Saturday. A win puts the Raiders in good chance to host one final match on Nov. 10.
Thursday's events
On Thursday, Wright State hosts its annual media luncheon. We will have updates Thursday afternoon from the event. Later on Thursday, WWSU and The Guardian are hosting a preseason party at the Wright Wing in Fairborn from 7-8:30 p.m. Former WSU head coach Jim Brown will join us to discuss the upcoming season for WSU's men's basketball program. WSU women's basketball guards Kim Demmings and Abby Jump will be on hand to talk about their team. I hope you can join us.
