NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State's football practices have been good again this week, but it was off-the-field news Thursday morning that brought the biggest smile of the day to Demons coach Jay Thomas.
 
In his regular Thursday meeting with NSU's athletic academic advisors, Thomas was told his program's projected NCAA Academic Progress Rate score for 2014-15 will set a school record with a 969 APR, a 21-point improvement. A perfect score is 1,000.
 
The NCAA compiles and confirms APR data submitted by all Division I institutions for each of their athletic teams, and issues a comprehensive annual report each May. Northwestern State's athletic program annually fares well in its APR results and no NSU program has ever faced sanctions resulting from subpar APR scores in the first decade of the study.
 
Academic coordinators Carrie Greene, Kelee Roddy and Betsy Nohavitza coordinate support for the nearly 400 student-athletes at NSU and team with NCAA compliance officer Dustin Eubanks to prepare the annual APR data for submission.
 
One of Thomas' top priorities when he took over the Demon football program after the 2012 season was to strengthen the team's academic standing. Having 29 players graduate last year was one obvious indication of improvement.
 
The focus by Thomas and his staff coincides with a tremendous boost from an NCAA grant obtained by NSU.
 
NSU Athletics is early in the second year of utilizing a three-year, $780,000 Accelerating Academic Success Program grant from the NCAA.
 
Heading into Saturday afternoon's 2 p.m. Southland Conference game at Incarnate Word, Thomas said the good news he received Thursday morning was a momentum building boost for the Demons.
 
"The ladies on our academic staff, Carrie, Keely and Betsy, do a tremendous job of guiding us and providing support as needed," Thomas said at the weekly Shreveport-Bossier City Demon Quarterback Club Luncheon on Thursday. "Our young men make it a priority and they get the right kind of encouragement and assistance. Our coaches provide emphasis. It's a daily topic in our program.
 
"We have outstanding faculty and staff at NSU who really care about their students, so our kids go into every day with a great opportunity to succeed academically," said Thomas. "When I took over, we made a serious commitment in this area and we've seen encouraging signs along the way. Today's news really, really made my day."
 
While credit for the improvement should be shared across campus, Thomas said he's especially proud of one group.
 
"You've got to pat our young men on the back. It is not easy to be a Division I student-athlete in any sport, and these guys are not only doing what's necessary, they're doing a very good job of keeping their priorities in order and taking care of their most important business, working toward getting their NSU degrees," he said.