LSC Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler received the eighth annual Lone Star Conference Academic Excellence Award presented by Balfour.
UT Tyler earned both the men’s and women’s awards for the first time as the athletic departments with the highest collective team GPA among its teams for the 2020-21 academic year. The Patriots will receive a cash reward and custom trophy.
“We are thrilled to reward the outstanding academic success of UT Tyler student-athletes during a challenging 2020-21 academic year,” said LSC Commissioner Jay Poerner. “Thank you to Balfour for their continued support of this most prestigious award.”
UTT featured the top team GPA in five of the nine men’s sports – baseball, cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, and soccer – with 10 student-athletes posting a flawless 4.0 GPA.
On the women’s side, UTT boasted the top team GPA in four sports – soccer, indoor and outdoor track and field, and tennis – with 25 student-athletes recording a perfect 4.0 GPA.
The award winners were determined by a point system, with points distributed according to finish by sport in those that the LSC sponsors after a conference-wide comparison of team GPA’s. The member institution with the highest team GPA in each sport was named the sport’s Academic Champion and earned five (5) points toward the overall award. Each sport’s runner-up picked up four (4) points and third-place three (3) points toward the overall award. Any program with a Team GPA of 2.00 and above earned one (1) point. Points for each member institution were totaled by gender and then divided by that institution’s number of counter programs in that gender to arrive at the comparison value.
The following are the sport academic champions:
| Men’s Sport | Academic Champion | GPA |
| Baseball | UT Tyler | 3.331 |
| Men’s Basketball | St. Edward’s | 3.423 |
| Men’s Cross Country | UT Tyler | 3.641 |
| Football | Eastern New Mexico | 2.767 |
| Men’s Golf | West Texas A&M | 3.528 |
| Men’s Indoor Track and Field | UT Tyler | 3.451 |
| Men’s Outdoor Track and Field | UT Tyler | 3.451 |
| Men’s Soccer | UT Tyler | 3.590 |
| Men’s Tennis | St. Mary’s | 3.623 |
| Women’s Sport | Academic Champion | GPA |
| Women’s Basketball | Lubbock Christian | 3.783 |
| Women’s Cross Country | Western New Mexico | 3.789 |
| Women’s Golf | St. Mary’s | 3.873 |
| Women’ Soccer | UT Tyler | 3.692 |
| Softball | Angelo State | 3.662 |
| Women’s Indoor Track and Field | UT Tyler | 3.455 |
| Women’s Outdoor Track and Field | UT Tyler | 3.455 |
| Volleyball | Texas Woman’s | 3.826 |
| Women’s Tennis | UT Tyler | 3.904 |
Lone Star Conference Academic Excellence Award presented by Balfour
| Year | Men’s Award | Women’s Award |
| 2020-21 | UT Tyler | UT Tyler |
| 2019-20 | Lubbock Christian | St. Mary’s |
| 2018-19 | Cameron | Texas Woman’s |
| 2017-18 | Western New Mexico | Eastern New Mexico |
| 2016-17 | Eastern New Mexico | Texas Woman’s / Cameron |
| 2015-16 | West Texas A&M | Texas Woman’s |
| 2014-15 | West Texas A&M | Texas Woman’s / West Texas A&M |
| 2013-14 | Eastern New Mexico | Texas Woman’s |