The University of Hawai'i athletic program was docked 3.48 scholarships for the upcoming year — two in men's basketball — for lagging Academic Performance Program rates, the NCAA announced today.

Men's basketball will forfeit two scholarships and operate on 11, two below the maximum allowed.

Football will lose one scholarship, being limited to 24 for the year and 84 overall. Baseball was docked 0.48 and will be allowed a total of 11.22.

The three were the only teams among the 19 operated by UH-Manoa to be sanctioned.

"I can't say I'm happy about three of these scores – the rest are acceptable or above average," said Hawai'i athletic director Jim Donovan, who is attending Western Athletic Conference meetings in Phoenix. "With that said, we have new coaches, who are working hard to change these scores, we have an academic staff, that's working hard to change theses scores, and a faculty athletic representative who's working closely with our coaches and academic staff to develop processes and build a culture to raise these scores. From my perspective having been here for only 40 days, I'm satisfied that we're putting in a culture and we have a support system that should improve these APR scores."

The APR measures academic eligibility retention and graduation, penalizing programs that lag in those areas. Each scholarship athlete on a team can generally earn two APR points per semester for staying at a school and remaining eligible. The NCAA has listed a baseline APR of 925 for schools, which would mean a 50-percent graduation rate, according to the NCAA. Members that fall below a 925 score face penalties.

The loss of two scholarships in one year is the most severe penalty in men's basketball and, for the 'Bows, would come at a time when head coach Bob Nash is attempting to rebuild a program that hasn't been to either the NCAA Tournament or National Invitation Tournament in four years.

Moreover, UH lost seven seniors from a team that went 11-17. Nash filled six slots with recruits in April but would have to relinquish another scholarship to meet the limitations of the sanctions.

UH football has been sanctioned in each of the two previous years, losing five scholarships in 2006 and one last year. Baseball lost 1.17, the maximum in its sport, two years ago but was spared additional penalties last year due to squad-size considerations.

Football is also coming off a year in which it had its most scholar-athletes (32) in school history and, like baseball, has been making annual progress in firming up its APR numbers.

While not happy with the loss of a football scholarship, Greg McMackin was pleased with his football team's academic improvement.

The Warriors' APR score for the 2006-2007 academic year was 980, a dramatic increase from the 914 score in 2005-2006. Their average four-year score increased from 902 through the 2005-2006 year to 921 through 2006-2007.

"No. 1, what I'm really proud of is the 980 score, which is one of the highest in the country," McMackin said. "The other thing I'm proud of is the 32 scholarship athletes" recognized at a dinner last week.

The Warriors have been tracking their APR score for several months, UH spokesman Derek Inouchi said, and the anticipated scholarship deduction was anticipated when they awarded scholarships to recruits in February. The Warriors will not have to revoke any scholarships.

Five UH sports posted perfect one-year scores of 1,000 for the 2006-07 academic year – women's volleyball, women's basketball, cross country, and indoor and outdoor track and field – compared to two the previous year.