The Purdue University Calumet 2014-15 women’s basketball team was honored as one of the Top 25 squads in the NAIA with its selection on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Academic Top 25 Honor Roll.
The honor marks the first in Peregrine women’s basketball history.
The Peregrines compiled a team grade point average of 3.244 to land the No. 23 spot on the list, which featured four other teams from the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, including Cardinal Stritch, St. Xavier, St. Francis (Ill.), and Indiana South Bend.
Purdue Calumet had a stellar season on both the court and the classroom, as the Peregrines captured their fourth-straight 20-win season under eighth-year head coach Tom Megyesi. Purdue Calumet finished with an overall record of 21-8 and went 12-5 in CCAC play, capturing their second-straight South Division Title. The Peregrines also reached their highest-ever national ranking, climbing as high as No. 8 in the NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll during the year.
The WBCA Academic Top 25 presented by AT&T annually recognizes NCAA Division I, II, and III; NAIA; and junior/community college women’s basketball teams across the nation that carry the highest combined grade point average (GPA) inclusive of all student-athletes on their rosters for the entire season. The 2014-15 season is the 20th in which the WBCA has complied the honor rolls. A team’s GPA is calculated by dividing the total number of quality points earned by the total number of hours attempted by all team members in the academic terms (semesters or quarters) that the season spans. Weighted grades are converted to a 4.0 scale. The GPA’s are rounded to the nearest thousandth of a point. Teams are nominated for the honor by a WBCA-member head coach. A team must have a 3.000 or better GPA to be nominated.
Full NAIA Top 25 List:
Below is the complete 2014-15 WBCA Academic Top 25 presented for AT&T for the NAIA (** - NAIA tournament; * - left after season):
Rank - Institution - 2014-15 Head Coach - Team GPA
1 - Valley City State University - Jill DeVries - 3.692
2 - Southeastern University** - Jody Martinez - 3.668
3 - University of Great Falls** - William Himmelberg - 3.661
4 - Northwestern College - Chris Yaw - 3.615
5 - Kansas Wesleyan University - Ryan Showman - 3.601
6 - Mount Marty College - Tom Schlimgen - 3.578
7 - St. Ambrose University - Krista Van Hauen - 3.575
8 - Huntington University** - Lori Culler - 3.572
T9 - Cardinal Stritch University** - John Pfaffl - 3.554
T9 - Clarke University** - Don Adams - 3.554
11 - Saint Xavier University** - Bob Hallberg - 3.533
12 - Lewis-Clark State College** - Brian Orr - 3.446
13 - Freed-Hardeman University** - Dale Neal - 3.431
14 - Indiana University South Bend Steve Bruce - 3.428
15 - Menlo College** - Shannon Osborne - 3.350
16 - Carroll College** - Rachelle Sayers - 3.344
17 - Blue Mountain College - Lavon Driskell - 3.337
18 - University of St. Francis - Samantha Quigley - 3.324
19 - Grand View University - Garey Smith - 3.312
20 - Central Methodist University James Arnold - 3.306
21 - Davenport University** - Mike Williams - 3.300
22 - Loyola University** - Kellie Kennedy - 3.267
23 - Purdue University Calumet - Tom Megyesi - 3.244
24 - Montana State-Northern** - Chris Mouat - 3.243
25 - William Woods University** - Dan Chapla - 3.220