MSU is not in any immediate danger, but...
APR is calculated with each player receiving a point for academic eligibility and a point for remaining in school. Total points earned are divided by total possible points for a %, then multiplied by 1,000 for a whole number.
So, MSU has a total of 13 scholarships for MBB (that is maximum allowed under NCAA policy). If each player earns a point for eligibility and retention, that is 26 possible points this year. Losing Chris Allen and Korie Lucious is a loss of 2 points for retention. At best, that is 24/26 or .923 or a APR score of 923 for this year (below 925). We know Chris Allen is academically eligible because he is enrolled and participating as a member of the squad at Iowa State... As for Lucious, he has been suspended and is no longer on the roster; and he may join Allen at Iowa State. But we don't know yet if he passed his classes (a.k.a. academically eligible) when he left. If he was not academically eligible, that would be a 23/26 = .884 or 884 score - for the 2010-2011 season. This year is averaged with other scores over the past 4 years, so the previous years' APR of 1,000 is only partially (1/4) contributing to the full APR score. But, eventually, this score will catch up to upcoming years because this score will continue to be averaged with teams in the next three years. In other words, MSU men's hoops will not have a perfect 1,000 score at least until 2014.
Yet, what it DOES state is that MSU basketball can't afford many more early defections to the NBA or to other schools, or any other possible loss of \retention points. Otherwise, scholarship losses may become an issue. There are a few institutions whose APR scores have been in the 700s and 600s, and major violations have reverberated through those programs. MSU isn't in that crisis mode, but losing players is concerning. Stay tuned to this issue...
