Southern Miss football had the second worst academic progress rate among FBS teams. However, according to the NCAA 2024 APR report published this week, Southern Miss improved its single-year score for the 2022-23 academic year for the second year in a row.
Southern Miss’ single-year APR came in at 957, increasing from 945 in 2021-22 and 899 in 2020-21. The multi-year APR score of 932 though is in the 1-10th percentile among all Division I athletics and Division I football. Akron at 925 is the only FBS team with a lower multi-year grade. Southern Miss’ multi-year APR was 933 last year, the fifth lowest in FBS.
The NCAA used to levy postseason bans for programs with a muti-year rate below 930. It stopped enforcing it during the COVID-19 pandemic, but just reinstated the requirement this year. Eight teams, all FCS except for Akron, were handed practice reductions by the NCAA.
Southern Miss athletic director Jeremy McClain declined comment when contacted by the Hattiesburg American.
APR is calculated using a point system that considers academic eligibility and retention among athletes receiving financial aid. One thousand is a perfect score. Multi-year APR extrapolates data from the previous four years into its formula, meaning the 2024 report uses numbers dating back to the 2019-20 academic year.
Football coach Will Hall was hired in December 2020, so academic figures from Jay Hopson’s tenure are still being utilized in calculating Southern Miss’ multi-year APR.
Hall’s original contract contained a clause requiring a 940 multi-year APR for him to be eligible for performance bonuses. Hall was paid $30,000 for winning the 2022 LendingTree Bowl game despite not meeting the APR requirement. His contract was amended in August to remove the clause, but Hall repaid the $30,000 to Southern Miss in February, according to an open records request by the Hattiesburg American.
Southern Miss football announced a 2.773 team GPA last fall, which it said was a program record. The school also said the athletic department had a record 3.179 cumulative GPA.
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Six Southern Miss teams had perfect APR scores
Six of Southern Miss’ 15 athletic teams had perfect APR scores for 2022-23: men’s golf, men’s tennis, cross country, women’s golf, softball and women’s tennis. Men’s tennis, cross country, women’s golf and women’s tennis also had perfect scores last year.
Men’s golf made the biggest jump by 66. Men’s track increased by 51 and softball rose by 13.
Men’s basketball took the biggest APR dip by 71 points, followed by women’s basketball dropping by 44, beach volleyball by 36, women’s soccer by 32, track by six and volleyball by three.
Here’s how all of Southern Miss’ sports reported:
| Sport | Multi-year APR | 2022-23 APR | Percentile rank within sport | Percentile rank within all sports |
| Baseball | 976 | 982 | 30th-40th | 20th-30th |
| Men’s basketball | 967 | 929 | 40th-50th | 10th-20th |
| Football | 932 | 957 | 1st-10th | 1st-10th |
| Men’s golf | 986 | 1,000 | 30th-40th | 40th-50th |
| Men’s tennis | 984 | 1,000 | 30th-40th | 40th-50th |
| Men’s track | 974 | 949 | 30th-40th | 20th-30th |
| Women’s basketball | 981 | 956 | 30th-40th | 30th-40th |
| Women’s cross country | 984 | 1,000 | 20th-30th | 30th-40th |
| Women’s golf | 991 | 1,000 | 20th-30th | 50th-60th |
| Softball | 967 | 1,000 | 1st-10th | 10th-20th |
| Women’s soccer | 980 | 956 | 10th-20th | 30th-40th |
| Women’s beach volleyball | 992 | 974 | 30th-40th | 50th-60th |
| Women’s tennis | 991 | 1,000 | 30th-40th | 50th-60th |
| Women’s track | 969 | 962 | 10th-20th | 10th-20th |
| Women’s volleyball | 989 | 974 | 30th-40th | 50th-60th |
Sam Sklar is the Southern Miss beat reporter for the Hattiesburg American. Email him at ssklar@hattiesb.gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.