Illinois Women's Basketball Ranks as Top Academic Program in Big Ten

After a breakthrough season on the court, the Illini were confimed to have led Big Ten women's basketball in GPA for the second year in a row

Feb 25, 2024; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Shauna Green reacts against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the fourth quarter at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

The Illinois women's basketball program keeps winning – on and off the court. The Illini – who last season went 22-10, won their first NCAA Tournament game in 25 years and finished No. 19 in the final AP poll – on Tuesday received honorable mention in the 2024-25 Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll, highlighting their excellent performance in the classroom.

Standing on business in the classroom. 📙📘

For the second consecutive season, we owned the best GPA in the Big Ten! pic.twitter.com/7JqQVIdhzg

— Illinois Women's Basketball (@IlliniWBB) July 22, 2025

The Illini women posted a stellar 3.597 combined team GPA for the 2024-25 academic year, the highest among all Big Ten programs for the second consecutive season. The mark also tied for 30th among all Division I programs.

"I am so incredibly proud of Illinois having the highest team GPA in the Big Ten the past two seasons," said coach Shauna Green. "It's a testament to our team's hard work in the classroom on a daily basis. We talk every day about being elite in everything that we do; we want our young women to have the same competitive spirit and drive in the classroom as they do on the court."

Now in its 30th year, the WBCA Academic Top 25 Honor Roll recognizes women's basketball programs across all collegiate levels. Teams must have all of their rostered student-athletes in their GPA calculations for the entire season.

Ten other Big Ten schools received WBCA honorable mention status, including: Nebraska (No. 39), Michigan State (47), Indiana (48), Minnesota (51), Iowa (56), Northwestern (70), USC (91), Ohio State (100), and Oregon (107).

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