Alabama A&M said Tuesday that its football program is not under an NCAA postseason ban after the school won approval for a waiver connected to a penalty flagged in the NCAA Academic Progress Rate database.
The database had listed Alabama A&M football with a multi-year APR of 897, a Level Two penalty, practice restrictions and postseason ineligibility. The school said the waiver was approved and that football remains fully eligible for postseason opportunities, though it is still operating under practice limitations.
The clearer blow landed elsewhere. Alabama A&M said its men’s basketball program will be subject to one postseason ban because of NCAA APR penalties, and the NCAA confirmed the sanction. Dr. Paul A. Bryant said the result does not meet the school’s standard.
The APR problems that led to the basketball penalty came from multiple years of academic oversight and student-athlete retention challenges under previous leadership, the school said. Donte Jackson called the punishment disappointing for his players, saying they have worked hard and deserve the chance to compete in the postseason.
That split outcome leaves Alabama A&M in two different places at once: football has cleared the ban after the waiver, while men’s basketball remains barred and will have to keep working with the NCAA to get back to full postseason eligibility.
