Bulldogs Meet High Standards In Classroom
February 11, 2025 | General, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
The fall semester brought plenty of successes for Georgia athletics, from the football team winning the SEC championship and making the College Football Playoff to women's tennis' Dasha Vidmanova capturing the NCAA singles title. Bulldogs across all sports shined in the classroom, too.
Not only did 17 of Georgia's 19 teams earn at least a 3.0 grade point average — with all student-athletes combining for an overall GPA of 3.26, the highest in UGA Athletic Association history other than the 3.34 achieved during the 2020 COVID spring semester — but 41 Bulldogs across 13 sports earned a perfect 4.0. The 4.0 Bulldogs were recognized at halftime of a women's basketball game at Stegeman Coliseum last month.
Golf paced the women's sports with a 3.68, narrowly edging out cross country (3.66) and soccer (3.56). Leading the way for the Georgia men's sports was the tennis team, which earned a 3.57 GPA.
"It's just kind of the philosophy of the program," men's tennis head coach Jamie Hunt said of the success in the classroom. "We want to be excellent in everything we do, and that extends off the court as well. We hold them to high standards in the classroom, and they respond to that."
Georgia's men's basketball team posted a GPA of 3.28, the highest in program history. It edged out cross country (3.26) for second among all of the men's teams.
"I'm really proud of the guys, everybody, for being able to achieve that for the team. Because if one person slacked off, then it wouldn't be the same," said sophomore forward Dylan James, who was one of seven men's basketball players with a GPA between 3.00 and 3.49.
Along with the 41 Presidential Scholars who earned a 4.0 and the 155 who made the Director's Honor Roll, the Bulldogs had 185 student-athletes finish the fall with a GPA between 3.50 and 3.99. Among all 530 Georgia student-athletes, 71.7% earned a 3.0 or better. Men's basketball's Tyrin Lawrence, a graduate transfer who already has a degree from Vanderbilt, was among those with a 4.0.
"It kind of comes easy, school, and just growing up, my parents would reward me for getting good grades on my report card," Lawrence said.
Women's swimming and diving has long been one of the academic standard-bearers at Georgia, with more than 40 Bulldogs earning an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. And that success continued in the fall. Abby McCulloh, who shared the 2023-24 SEC Women's Swimming Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, and was later the 2024 NCAA champion in the 1,650 freestyle, was one of seven women's swimmers to earn a 4.0 last semester. Thirteen more made between a 3.50 and a 3.99, and the team GPA was 3.55.
Men's tennis had one 4.0 player, Cyrus Mahjoob, and seven more earned a 3.50 or higher. Hunt, who made the SEC Academic Honor Roll for Georgia during his playing days (as did women's tennis coach Drake Bernstein), said he and his coaches talk to the players often about excelling in the classroom, though they don't always need to.
"They're also a very motivated group," he said.
It looks like there are a lot of those wearing the red and black these days.
Staff Writer
The fall semester brought plenty of successes for Georgia athletics, from the football team winning the SEC championship and making the College Football Playoff to women's tennis' Dasha Vidmanova capturing the NCAA singles title. Bulldogs across all sports shined in the classroom, too.
Not only did 17 of Georgia's 19 teams earn at least a 3.0 grade point average — with all student-athletes combining for an overall GPA of 3.26, the highest in UGA Athletic Association history other than the 3.34 achieved during the 2020 COVID spring semester — but 41 Bulldogs across 13 sports earned a perfect 4.0. The 4.0 Bulldogs were recognized at halftime of a women's basketball game at Stegeman Coliseum last month.
Golf paced the women's sports with a 3.68, narrowly edging out cross country (3.66) and soccer (3.56). Leading the way for the Georgia men's sports was the tennis team, which earned a 3.57 GPA.
"It's just kind of the philosophy of the program," men's tennis head coach Jamie Hunt said of the success in the classroom. "We want to be excellent in everything we do, and that extends off the court as well. We hold them to high standards in the classroom, and they respond to that."
Georgia's men's basketball team posted a GPA of 3.28, the highest in program history. It edged out cross country (3.26) for second among all of the men's teams.
"I'm really proud of the guys, everybody, for being able to achieve that for the team. Because if one person slacked off, then it wouldn't be the same," said sophomore forward Dylan James, who was one of seven men's basketball players with a GPA between 3.00 and 3.49.
Along with the 41 Presidential Scholars who earned a 4.0 and the 155 who made the Director's Honor Roll, the Bulldogs had 185 student-athletes finish the fall with a GPA between 3.50 and 3.99. Among all 530 Georgia student-athletes, 71.7% earned a 3.0 or better. Men's basketball's Tyrin Lawrence, a graduate transfer who already has a degree from Vanderbilt, was among those with a 4.0.
"It kind of comes easy, school, and just growing up, my parents would reward me for getting good grades on my report card," Lawrence said.
Women's swimming and diving has long been one of the academic standard-bearers at Georgia, with more than 40 Bulldogs earning an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. And that success continued in the fall. Abby McCulloh, who shared the 2023-24 SEC Women's Swimming Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, and was later the 2024 NCAA champion in the 1,650 freestyle, was one of seven women's swimmers to earn a 4.0 last semester. Thirteen more made between a 3.50 and a 3.99, and the team GPA was 3.55.
Men's tennis had one 4.0 player, Cyrus Mahjoob, and seven more earned a 3.50 or higher. Hunt, who made the SEC Academic Honor Roll for Georgia during his playing days (as did women's tennis coach Drake Bernstein), said he and his coaches talk to the players often about excelling in the classroom, though they don't always need to.
"They're also a very motivated group," he said.
It looks like there are a lot of those wearing the red and black these days.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
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