UNLV football GPA on the rise

UNLV’s football program made news last year around this time for falling shortly academically.

Now the news is quite different, with first-year coach Tony Sanchez saying the team grade-point average rose from a 2.35 in the fall semester to a 2.7 in the term that recently ended.

He also said 11 players made the Dean’s List.

“I think that’s a huge plus in the right direction for us,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez is dealing with an academic problem he inherited, which is trying to get the Academic Progress Rate four-year average to a 930, the minimum for bowl eligibility. UNLV initially failed to hit that number the last academic year, but eventually reached it on June 26.

“We’re working toward that (930),” Sanchez said. “I think we will hit it, but the great thing is that immediate improvement that our guys showed from where they were in the fall to where they were at the end of the spring. It’s drastically different.

“It shows guys are really starting to buy in and doing everything right.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.