HAMMOND, Ind. & WESTVILLE, Ind. – The Purdue University Northwest women’s basketball program showed their dominance in the classroom during the 2016-17 academic year, earning the top GPA in the NAIA after the Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll was announced by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association on Wednesday.
The Pride earned a 3.746 GPA, which was better than over 200 schools in the NAIA, and finished second out of all the respective divisions, including NCAA Div. I, Div. II, Div. III and junior/community colleges.
“Our athletic department has always emphasized student-athletes being well-rounded individuals,” said head coach Tom Megyesi.
“Our women’s basketball team are outstanding students who accomplished this great honor and I am extremely proud of all their hard work in the classroom and on the floor.”
The WBCA Academic Top 25 recognizes NCAA Division I, II and II; NAIA and junior/community college women’s basketball teams across the nation that carry the highest combined GPAs inclusive of all student-athletes on their rosters for the entire season. This marks the 22nd season in which the WBCA has produced the honor rolls
NAIA Top 25 rankings
Rank Institution Head Coach GPA
| 1 | Purdue University Northwest | Thomas Megyesi | 3.746 |
| 2 | Mount Marty College | Tom Schlimgen | 3.741 |
| 3 | St. Ambrose University | Krista Van Hauen | 3.701 |
| 4 | Montana State University-Northern | Chris Mouat | 3.690 |
| 5 | Concordia University (Nebraska) | Drew Olson | 3.673 |
| 6 | Grand View University | Garey Smith | 3.659 |
| 7 | Blue Mountain College | Lavon Driskell | 3.628 |
| 8 | Indiana Institute of Technology | Jessie Biggs | 3.608 |
| 9 | University of Rio Grande | David Smalley | 3.568 |
| 10 | Freed-Hardeman University | Dale Neal | 3.545 |
| 11 | Saint Xavier University | Bob Hallberg | 3.536 |
| 12 | Huntington University | Lori Culler | 3.530 |
| 13 | Columbia College | Jessica Keller | 3.523 |
| 14 | University of Great Falls | Bill Himmelberg | 3.516 |
| 15 | Northwestern College | Chris Yaw | 3.490 |
| 16 | Missouri Valley College | Timm Dixon | 3.486 |
| 17 | University of St. Francis | Samantha Quigley Smith | 3.483 |
| 18 | Stephens College | Ray Fron | 3.464 |
| 19 | Cardinal Stritch University | John Pfaffl | 3.426 |
| 20 | Campbellsville University | Ginger Colvin | 3.422 |
| 21 | Concordia University (Michigan) | Thad Sankey | 3.412 |
| 22 | Indiana University East | Tiffani Selhorst | 3.382 |
| 23 | John Brown University | Jeff Soderquist | 3.376 |
| 24 | Kansas Wesleyan University | Ryan Showman | 3.370 |
| 25 | Lyon College | Tracy Stewart-Lange | 3.362 |