RICHMOND, Va. -- The Richmond Spiders have been crowned Academic National Champions by the Golf Coaches Association of America for posting the highest GPA of any team in men's college golf during the 2020-21 school year. Richmond's combined team GPA of 3.85 in 2020-21 ranked first among the more than 1,000 men's college golf teams across all NCAA divisions, the NAIA, and the NJCAA.
In NCAA Division I, Richmond's GPA was tops among the 41 teams to register a combined GPA of 3.5 or higher during the 2020-21 season, a group that includes UR's A-10 rivals Dayton, Rhode Island, and VCU. Among all men's college golf programs, the Spiders (3.85) narrowly edged Division III's Augsburg University (3.84) for the top GPA.
Academic National Champions is the latest in a long string of academic honors earned by the Richmond men's golf team, which has been coached by
Adam Decker for the last 16 seasons. In June, all nine members of the team were selected to the Atlantic 10's Commissioner's Honor Roll for recording a GPA of 3.0 or higher during the 2020-21 season. In April, the program won the Men's Team Academic Award for the second-straight year for having the highest GPA among all men's sports teams at Richmond.
The Spiders have also collected several individual academic honors in 2021.
Lou Baker, a rising junior, was one of five golfers selected to the A-10's All-Academic Team in June and earned UR's Second-Year Academic Award in May for having the best GPA among second-year male student athletes at Richmond.
Michael Baker, a senior in 2020-21, was one of six Spiders named to the Academic All-State Team by the Virginia Association of Sports Information Directors in June. He also earned Richmond's Presidential Citation Award as the men's senior student-athlete with the top academic achievements and the Robins School of Business Scholar-Athlete Award this season.
2021 is the fourth-straight year Richmond has been named a GCAA All-Academic Team for posting a GPA of 3.0 or higher and the second-straight year the Spiders have earned Presidents Special Recognition for registering a GPA or 3.5 or higher.