What’s behind Slippery Rock University’s academic success in PSAC and Division II
SLIPPERY ROCK — Slippery Rock University athletics are all about winning in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference — in more ways than one.
SRU had the highest overall grade point average (3.528) in the conference in 2025-26 for the second consecutive academic year. SRU track and field coach Bill Jordan’s men’s and women’s track teams were among seven SRU athletic teams to lead the PSAC in GPA in their respective sports.
“We want to win the PSAC title on the track and off,” Jordan said. “Team GPA can be another team championship, and we want to celebrate both.”
Football, men’s soccer, women’s lacrosse, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball were the others to lead in GPA. No other PSAC school had more than four teams topping the league.
“There’s a reason why the word ‘student’ is in front of the word ‘athlete,’” SRU athletic director Roberta Page said. “Our coaches are class acts and they recruit quality students. That’s where it starts.
“Good students make good athletes, as well.”
Page said she emphasizes her “four C’s” when she meets with incoming student athletes.
“Classroom, competition, commitment and community,” she said. “All four of those things are important. But the classroom always comes first.”
NCAA rules prohibit players from participating more than 20 hours per week in the sport, whether that time be in practice, the weight room or elsewhere.
Football coach Shawn Lutz said incoming students must have a minimum 2.75 GPA in high school to play for The Rock. Many colleges and universities have a 2.0 minimum.
“It’s tough here that way, The overall quality of the university keeps improving,” Lutz said. “It starts with quality students. We want to win, of course, but academics come first.
“(Linebacker) Teddy Gregory is an engineering major and has to miss practice at times to fulfill those obligations. We have four or five players miss practice one day a week because of class conflicts.”
Lutz said one or two players become academically ineligible on average each season, but that number is down from the “seven to 10 players we’d lose five years ago.”
Athletes at The Rock are majoring in pre-med, exercise science, engineering, education and safety management, among others. The men’s track and women’s lacrosse teams have led the PSAC in GPA for five successive years now.
“SRU got rid of the fluff majors,” Jordan said. “There are high expectations here. The upperclassmen on our team emphasize that to the underclassmen. You’re held to a standard in the classroom.”
The women’s tennis team had a GPA of 3.832 last season, highest of any PSAC team in any sport. That GPA narrowly missed leading all of Division II.
“I have a number of international athletes on my team, and the solid education is what brings them here,” SRU tennis coach Matt Meredith said. “In terms of student athletes, SRU can recruit with Division I schools like Duquesne and Robert Morris now.
“Our reputation for academics, as well as athletics, is very strong here. Job placement, successful career planning. ... That’s why they come.”
SRU’s tennis team reached the top 16 nationally last season. One of its top players, Nicole Kempton from South Park, carried a 4.0 GPA as a public health major preparing to enter the physician assistant program. She worked 20 hours a week at a hospital as part of that training while maintaining her academic standing and high performance on the tennis court.
“She turned down Division I offers to come here, and look what she’s doing,” Meredith said.
Much of SRU’s academic success in athletics can be traced to Grace Bennett, who holds the title of Assistant Director of Career & Rock Career Champions. She works with student athletes in every sport at SRU.
Women’s lacrosse coach Taryn Burkholder, among other coaches, considers Bennett’s contributions valuable. Bennett is in her fifth year at The Rock, beginning as a graduate student, and works under the Center for Career & Academic Progress.
SRU women’s lacrosse had a team GPA of 3.78, finishing in the top three in Division II. The team won its first PSAC championship on the field with a 20-1 record.
“Grace helps the athletes set up their (academic) schedules, gets them tutors as needed,” Burkholder said. “She introduces herself to every member of the team, gets to know them, helps them organize, assists with study tables, helps upperclassmen put together resumes, all of those things.”
Page called Bennett “a tremendous asset to this university.”
“She attends the games, gets involved with the kids,” Page said. “She’s very visible and develops a comfort level that way.”
Bennett attends every football team meeting and keeps athletes informed as to what lies ahead academically. Rock football players attend study tables for two hours each Tuesday and Thursday evening
“Coach gives me a minute during the meeting, and I’ll tell them mid-terms are in three weeks, maybe give them a motivational moment,” Bennett said. “Most importantly, I let the athletes know I’m here if they need me. And they’ll come to me.
“The coaches here do a great job of bringing in students who are academically driven.”
Bennett said the average student changes his or her major up to four times. Student athletes are no exception.
“If a major clearly isn’t right for someone, Grace will steer them in the right direction,” Jordan said. “When a student becomes excited about his major, he becomes more excited about his classes.”
The evidence is there. SRU ranks No. 2 in the nation in Division II in academics.
“Our girls live for it,” Burkholder said of academics. “This past fall, our team GPA was 3.56. We want a 3.6 or higher. We stepped it up in the spring and got there. We start practice four days before the fall semester begins, so our kids get into the time-management routine within the first couple of weeks.
“We meet with our freshmen once a week, to see how they’re doing and adjusting. That’s the way it is around here.”
