Spring 2016 4.0 Term GPA 
| Spring 2016 Commissioner's Honor Roll | Spring 2016 Dean's List By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Baylor student-athletes continue to keep raising the bar, on and off the field.
After recording a program-record overall GPA of 3.28 in fall 2015 , Baylor matched it with another 3.28 in the recently completed spring 2016 semester while producing 600 or more Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll selections (669) for the fifth straight year.
"With our student-athletes, the expectation is not just staying eligible anymore. Our ultimate goal is graduation," said Bart Byrd, Baylor's Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Services.
"The culture we have in our academic center, it's all to make them successful. And that starts on campus with the professors and the Provost office and the dean's offices all doing the correct steps to make sure our kids at Baylor are succeeding. That's the mission of Baylor is to promote good citizens to go out into the world and share Baylor's mission. And that's what we're trying to do."
The Big 12 leader in graduation rate, Baylor had 77 student-athletes earn degrees in the spring, another 29 in December 2015 and is expected to have a dozen more graduate in August. In the Big 12 era (since 1996), Baylor has now had 1,636 student-athletes earn bachelor's degrees and 83 go on to add master's degrees.
"The crazy thing is now we're not trying to graduate them in five and six years," Byrd said, "we're trying to slow them down from graduating in four. Al Freeman (from men's basketball) could have graduated this summer and still has two years to play. We're seeing more and more kids graduate early."
Baylor's run of academic success has also included 18 consecutive semesters with at least 200 Big 12 Honor Roll selections, including 320 for spring 2016. This spring, 39 student-athletes earned a perfect 4.0 GPA, including Courtney Pate, Allison Steele and Arina Webb from the national championship Acrobatics & Tumbling squad.
In each of the last 16 semesters, the cumulative GPA of all Baylor teams has been above a 3.0, with the last 11 terms -- starting with spring 2011 and running through spring 2016 -- producing the highest semester GPAs in school history for any term.
Three teams (women's basketball, men's golf and women's golf) posted their highest-ever GPA in the fall 2015 semester and four other teams (baseball, A&T, men's cross country and men's tennis) recorded their highest GPA in spring 2016. Overall, 16 teams posted a 3.0 GPA or higher for either the fall or spring semester, including 16 squads with at least a 3.0 for both terms.
Additionally, 108 Baylor student-athletes were named to the Dean's List for the spring 2016 semester. Dean's List is awarded to students with a 3.7 GPA, enrolled in at least 12 hours and who make no grade lower than a C.
Equestrian (19) and men's track (13) led the way in Dean's List honorees, followed by women's track with 12 and A&T and soccer each with 11.
Byrd, a former baseball player and diver at Ouachita Baptist, says it helps that most of his staff has been "in the trenches." Seven were athletes at the collegiate level, with A&T academic advisor Kendal Jarrett coming from a cheerleading background at Azusa Pacific.
"You look at it, and our advisors that work with them and deal with them on a day-to-day basis, they've been in the trenches. They've been where they are," Byrd said. "Our staff does an unbelievable job. I would put them up against any staff in America. Our staff works really hard, tirelessly, to work with our kids and help them achieve their ultimate goal of graduation."
WACO, Texas - For the fifth straight year BU produced 600 or more total Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll selections as 669 BU student-athletes were so honored in 2015-16--349 for the 2015 fall term and 320 for the 2016 spring semester.
Of those earning 2015-16 Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll recognition, 92 were named with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average for at least one of the two terms--53 in the fall semester and 39 for the spring term. Student-athletes must achieve a minimum 3.00 semester grade-point average to earn Commissioner's Honor Roll status.
Baylor has had at least 200 student-athletes earn Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll recognition in each of the last 18 semesters with 300 or more being so honored in 11 of the last 12 terms.
In each of the last 16 semesters, the cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of all Baylor teams has been above a 3.0, with the last 11 terms (spring 2011,fall 2011, spring 2012, fall 2012, spring 2013, fall 2013, spring 2014, fall 2014 and spring 2015, fall 2015 and spring 2016) producing the highest semester GPAs in school history for any term.
For both the fall 2015 and spring 2016 semesters, BU student-athletes produced the highest one semester GPA on record with a 3.28 mark. At the completion of the fall 2015 semester, three teams (women's basketball, men's golf, women's golf) had posted their highest GPA. For the spring 2016 term, four teams (baseball, acrobatics & tumbling, men's cross country and men's tennis) posted the team's highest GPA. Overall, 16 teams posted a 3.0 GPA or better for either the fall or spring semester, including 15 squads with 3.0 or above for both terms.
The Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll is an inclusive honor for varsity sports sponsored by the league membership. The Honor Roll is recorded and released each semester and recognizes those student-athletes who had a 3.00 or better grade-point average in the previous semester. More than 3,000 student-athletes each semester have been named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll in the league's 19-year history. Baylor has had more than 8,000 student-athletes honored since the Honor Roll began.
The spring 2016 semester proved yet again that Baylor student-athletes dominate not only on the field, but also in the classroom. This semester, 108 student-athletes from Baylor's varsity sports were named to the 2016 spring Dean's List. Dean's List recognition is awarded to Baylor students with a 3.7 grade-point average, enrolled in at least 12 hours and who make no grade lower than a C.
Spring Semester By the Numbers
4.0 GPA - 39
Courtney Pate - Acrobatics & Tumbling
Allison Steele - Acrobatics & Tumbling
Anna Webb - Acrobatics & Tumbling
Kirby Hill - Baseball
West Tunnell - Baseball
Riley Chador - Equestrian
Shannon Hogue - Equestrian
Samantha Howell - Equestrian
Lorin Salazar - Equestrian
Karyn Simpson - Equestrian
Jonathan Davis - Men's Basketball
Matthew Perrine - Men's Golf
Jimmy Bendeck - Men's Tennis
Tomas Charlos - Men's Tennis
Blake Bostick - Men's Track
Greg Bostick - Men's Track
Paul Gaschen - Men's Track
John Ryan Hardy - Men's Track
Sean McCullough - Men's Track
Matthew Parham - Men's Track
Kyle Scanlan - Men's Track
Bridget Hamway - Soccer
Ashleigh James - Soccer
Julie James - Soccer
Robin Landrith - Softball
Jessica Tomchesson - Softball
Zoe Adom - Volleyball
Adrien Richburg - Volleyball
Alexandria Gulley - Women's Basketball
Dylan Kim - Women's Golf
Allison Kuntz - Women's Golf
Giovana Maymon - Women's Golf
Blair Shankle - Women's Tennis
Tamara McVickar - Women's Track
Maggie Montoya - Women's Track
Jenna Pfeiffer - Women's Track
Leila Rohde - Women's Track
Megan Rule - Women's Track
Catherine Zabilski - Women's Track
Baylor Dean's List - 108
Acrobatics & Tumbling - 11
Baseball - 6
Equestrian - 19
Football - 1
Men's Basketball - 2
Men's Golf - 5
Men's Tennis - 7
Men's Track - 13
Soccer - 11
Softball - 6
Volleyball - 3
Women's Basketball - 1
Women's Golf - 7
Women's Tennis - 4
Women's Track - 12
Spring 2016 Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll - 320
Acrobatics & Tumbling - 32
Baseball - 28
Equestrian - 52
Football - 27
Men's Basketball - 3
Men's Golf - 12
Men's Tennis - 11
Men's Track - 30
Soccer - 29
Softball - 19
Volleyball - 11
Women's Basketball - 5
Women's Golf - 11
Women's Tennis - 9
Women's Track - 41
