# UK Athletics Places 145 First-Year Students on SEC Honor Roll **Published:** 2026-07-07T16:15:26.000Z **Source:** [UK Athletics](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/07/07/kentucky-places-145-student-athletes-on-sec-first-year-academic-honor-roll/) **AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) **Canonical:** https://feeds.lexingtonky.news/article/uk-athletics-places-145-first-year-students-on-sec-honor-roll LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky Athletics Department placed 145 student-athletes on the Southeastern Conference's 2025-26 First-Year Academic Honor Roll, [SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey announced Tuesday](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/07/07/kentucky-places-145-student-athletes-on-sec-first-year-academic-honor-roll/). To qualify for the First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll, a student-athlete must have a 3.0 grade-point average and be in their first year at an SEC institution. The honor represents part of a larger pattern of academic achievement at UK Athletics, where all 23 varsity programs maintained a 3.0 team GPA or higher in the most recent spring semester. The 145 first-year honorees come from all corners of the UK athletic program, including 24 baseball players, 10 men's basketball players, 4 women's basketball players, 8 football players, and representatives from golf, gymnastics, rifle, soccer, softball, stunt, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. The recognition comes as UK Athletics continues a streak of academic excellence. The department has maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for 28 consecutive semesters, a goal established by Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart in 2008. In the most recent academic year, 98 Wildcats received diplomas or certifications, bringing the department's total to 123 graduates for 2025-26. UK Athletics supports student-athlete academic success through [CATS, the first academic center dedicated solely to serving student-athletes](https://ukathletics.com/), which is part of the department's Student-Athlete Experience division launched to prepare athletes for life after Kentucky. The NCAA Academic Progress Rate for UK Athletics was recently calculated at 991 out of a possible 1,000, five points higher than the national average. ## Sources - [UK Athletics](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/07/07/kentucky-places-145-student-athletes-on-sec-first-year-academic-honor-roll/) - [UK Athletics spring 2026 GPA achievement and background on CATS academic center](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/05/13/uk-athletics-surpasses-3-0-overall-gpa-for-28th-straight-semester/) --- This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from UK Athletics, enriched with 1 web search. The original source is available at https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/07/07/kentucky-places-145-student-athletes-on-sec-first-year-academic-honor-roll/.