Hauck follows AD’s lead on UNLV football’s possible postseason ban

By Taylor Bern

Thursday, March 27, 2014 | 11:26 a.m.

The UNLV football program knows that a poor Academic Progress Rate score may derail its momentum. But just like the Athletic Director Tina Kunzer-Murphy, Rebels coach Bobby Hauck will deal with that publicly only when it becomes official.

“We’re going to wait until the results come out in June and, obviously, Tina’s made a statement on that,” Hauck said after Wednesday’s practice. “We’ll follow our department’s lead on that deal.”

On Tuesday, Kunzer-Murphy shared the following statement: ““We are engaged in the APR process ahead of the June release by the NCAA. It’s an on-going process and there is nothing definitive to report at this point. We will have no further comment until the process is complete.”

Kunzer-Murphy approved a raise and extension for Hauck in November that became official in January. It’s unclear exactly how much either of them knew regarding UNLV’s APR situation at the time.

The NCAA implemented the APR in 2004-05 as a way of holding programs accountable for players' work in the classroom. Scores are calculated on a 1,000-point scale. To remain eligible for the postseason, a program must maintain a score of at least 930 over a four-year period or at least 940 over a two-year period. That’s up from 900 and 930 last season, and starting with the 2015-16 school year, only the 930 four-year average will be calculated.

In the past, low scores have incurred penalties such as scholarship reductions, which UNLV football suffered in 2005-06 and 2006-07. However, the NCAA wanted to make the penalty harsher moving forward.

UNLV’s most recent multi-year score was 932, although the 2011-12 score was 891, according to the NCAA. While Hauck wasn't ready to address the situation specifically, he did comment on a potential off-field distractions.

“Like anything else, you handle what comes at you,” he said. “There are all kinds of things that we try to do well, and going to school’s one of them. We’ll see how that goes.”

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.