Failure to meet NCAA Academic Progress Report standards will prevent Delaware State University’s men's basketball team from playing in the 2021 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament, DSU athletic director Scott Gines revealed in a letter to the university community Thursday.

The Hornets must also reduce their 2020-21 schedule by three games.

In a letter emailed to faculty, staff and students and released to the media by DSU, Gines explained that the Hornets’ football and men's basketball teams had seen their APR scores slip below the NCAA minimum score of 930 during 2017-18, the last academic year for which numbers are presently available.

The point system measures the academic eligibility and retention of scholarship athletes by each school over a four-year period. DSU football scored a 923 in 2017-18 and men’s basketball had 925.

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Each received what are termed “level-one” penalties in January of 2019 that involve decreasing practice and training time by 20% in an effort to devote more hours to academic work.

The 2021 MEAC tourney ban and schedule reduction are additional steps taken toward improving the basketball APR, which was 952 in 2016-17. Football’s was 937 that year.

Similarly, Florida A&M was ineligible for the 2019 MEAC football title and postseason play because of APR-related restrictions despite going 7-0 in league games.

“While these penalties are not good news for our programs,” Gines wrote, “we are highly committed to ensuring that our student-athletes have the right support to ensure their retention and academic success.”

Both squads have had new coaches beginning with the 2018-19 school year – Rod Milstead in football and Eric Skeeters in men’s basketball. Gines was hired by Delaware State in June of 2018.

“Coaches Milstead and Skeeters,” Gines said in his email, “both of whom are still new to the university, are focused on building an accountable culture that demands excellence on and off the field or court.”

Gines and DSU wouldn't comment beyond the letter, said DSU director of news services Carlos Holmes.

The Hornets remain eligible for the 2020 MEAC Tournament March 10-14 at the Norfolk (Virginia) Scope Arena. Delaware State is 1-14 overall and 0-1 in the MEAC going into its next game Saturday at home against North Carolina Central.

Delaware State has won just one MEAC Men’s Basketball Tournament in its history, that coming in 2005 when it reached its lone NCAA Tournament. The Hornets have fallen in the MEAC title game five times, most recently in 2015.

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com.