Tennessee Student-Athletes Reach New Heights Academically

Tennessee Student-Athletes Reach New Heights Academically

January 18, 2024 | Baseball, Football, General, Men's Basketball, Men's Golf, Men's Tennis, Rowing, Softball, Swimming & Diving, Track & Field, Women's Basketball, Women's Golf, Soccer, Women's Tennis, Volleyball, Women's Swimming & Diving, Men's Swimming & Diving, Men's Track, Tennessee Tailored

All 16 sports earned a team GPA above 3.00 (back-to-back semesters)

The Fall 2023 semester was another record-breaking term for Tennessee Athletics, as the student-athlete population posted a cumulative 3.40 grade-point average—the highest ever recorded. The previous best mark—excluding terms with COVID grade-mode flexibility—was 3.38 in Spring 2023.

It marked the sixth consecutive semester a new record cumulative GPA was achieved by UT student-athletes, with all six overall GPAs of 3.20 or higher. The record fall metrics included new high-water marks for combined men's sports (3.24) and women's sports (3.56).

By marking the 22nd consecutive semester in which the Vols and Lady Vols combined to post a GPA of 3.0 or higher, Tennessee Athletics has now maintained that level of academic achievement for 11 straight years.

Tennessee Athletics' Rise Glorious Strategic Plan features a directive to "honor the foundation of college sports by maximizing the educational journey of each student-athlete and creating championship-level performance expectations academically."

"Proud of our Vols and Lady Vols who compete in the classroom just as hard as they do in competition!" Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White said. "We have continued to raise the bar on and off the field, and that's a credit to all of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and our entire academic community on campus."

Notably, five sports programs—each of which also enjoyed significant competitive success in 2023—recorded their highest-ever semester GPA in the fall. Those sports were baseball, men's basketball, softball, women's tennis and women's track and field/cross country.

Some of the additional academic highlights from the Fall 2023 semester include:

All 16 sports earned a team GPA above 3.00 (back-to-back semesters)
74 student-athletes earned a 4.00 semester GPA—ties for the most ever in a semester
477 student-athletes (79 percent) earned a 3.00 or higher semester GPA—the highest total ever in a semester without COVID grade-mode flexibility
A Tennessee-record 243 student-athletes were recognized on their respective Dean's Lists
Eight teams tied or bested their highest GPA for a Fall semester (football, men's basketball, baseball, softball, women's tennis, men's track and field/cross country, women's track and field/cross country, volleyball)

The Vols' and Lady Vols' collective academic prowess complemented another outstanding fall in their teams' competitive pursuits. Tennessee recorded its highest Fall finish ever in the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup, placing No. 5 nationally.

In addition, 39 UT student-athletes earned degrees in December to culminate the fall semester:

Men's Basketball (2)
Colin Coyne, Business Analytics
Santiago Vescovi, Management

Women's Basketball (1)
Tamari Key, Communication Studies

Football (13)
Michael Bittner, Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication (Master's)
McCallan Castles, Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication (Master's)
Kurott Garland, Communication Studies
Kwauze Garland, Communication Studies
Isaac Green, Mechanical Engineering
Roman Harrison, Communication Studies
Ramel Keyton, Communication Studies
Jackson Lampley, Management
Ollie Lane, Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication (Master's)
Austin Lewis, Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication (Master's)
Matthew Salansky, Kinesiology
Elijah Simmons, Communication Studies
Javontez Spraggins, Sociology

Women's Golf (1)
Carolina Caminoli, Management and Human Resources (Master's)

Soccer (9)
Claudia Dipasupil, Marketing
Maddie Eskin, Biological Sciences
Jordan Fusco, Kinesiology
Mackenzie George, Animal Science
Mackenzie Haba, Management
Sydney Hennessey, Kinesiology
Tara Katz, Biological Sciences
Maria Nelson, Kinesiology
Jaida Thomas, Management and Human Resources (Master's)

Softball (1)
Caliyah Thompson, Kinesiology

Men's Swimming & Diving (2)
Scott Scanlon, Management
Aleksey Tarasenko, Recreation and Sport Management (Master's)

Women's Swimming & Diving (1)
Megan Sichterman, Food Science (Master's)

Men's Tennis (1)
Boris Kozlov, Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication (Master's)

Men's Track & Field (5)
Garison Breeding, Kinesiology
Devon Brooks, Recreation and Sport Management (Master's)
Jesse Henderson, Business Administration (Master's)
Alexander Kay, Finance
Calvin Wetzel, Mechanical Engineering

Women's Track & Field (2)
Prom'Myse Hoosier, Communication Studies
Allison Rand, Business Administration (Master's)

Volleyball (1)
Kylie Robinson, Management and Human Resources (Master's)