UI loses one scholarship; Siavii to redshirt

UPDATED: 5:43 p.m.

The newest four-year Academic Progress Rates have been unveiled by the NCAA, and the Idaho football team has lost one scholarship because of its multi-year APR of 923, just below the penalty threshold of 925.

That might sound like bad news — but to Robb Akey, it’s not. That’s because the Vandals knew this was coming and have already taken the scholarship hit. Read on for his reaction.

Also, Akey confirmed starting linebacker Robert Siavii, last year’s leading tackler, will redshirt this fall after tearing his ACL during Idaho’s spring game. Siavii will have one year of eligibility left after sitting out.

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Vince Grippi is handling the story on the APR results for the S-R, but I wanted to give Akey’s reaction. In short, he’s thrilled by how things are progressing. For the first time in his tenure — and perhaps much longer than that — the Vandals will be at the maximum of 85 scholarships this fall.

This comes after the NCAA dished out some severe punishment.

Over the last four years, Akey’s program has lost 15 scholarships. The stiffest penalty came after the 2006-07 academic year, when the NCAA took eight scholarships away from the Vandals. UI logged an APR of 880 that year after dismissing 18 players “who weren’t doing things the right way,” Akey said.

“It’s been one of the ongoing battles since I’ve been here,” Akey said this evening. “We’re in so much better shape than we were in the beginning. Honestly, I’m really excited about it.”

Later, he said he’s fired up by the program’s progress. Next year, with the 880 off the rolling average, the Vandals will be above the APR threshold and won’t face any penalties.

“We already paid the fiddler, so to speak, and got that one taken care of,” Akey said. “And actually this will be the first opportunity in maybe forever that the University of Idaho is able to have 85 guys on scholarship and we will be able to sign our full allotment of initials in next year’s class. So I’m really excited about it and proud of where this thing has gotten itself to because that was a big battle.”

Akey reiterated the importance the building a “strong base of character” in his first year — which is what led to the dismissals in his first year.

“There were four head coaches and four coaching staffs that contributed and numerous kids that haven’t been here for so long that contributed to those numbers. So I look at this as a real positive right now.”

UI was at 77 scholarships last year, Akey said. And that was an improvement from his first year, when the number was closer to 70.

“I think a lot of what contributed to Idaho’s issues in the past were the lack of stability. I don’t think it was any coach’s fault or any staff’s fault. I think there was a lot of change and there ended up being a lot of change in players also. I think the fact that we’ve been around here for a strong period of time now and I think our players understand our expectations — and our expectations are that you came to college to graduate.”

No other UI teams will face penalties. The men’s basketball team had a score of 942 while the women’s basketball team came in at 953.