Hawaii basketball coach Gib Arnold broke his silence on his team’s purported academic problems, then refuted them across the board.

Arnold is adamant that his team is in no danger of any NCAA sanctions based on the program’s four-year rolling Academic Progress Rate, contrary to previous indications given by UH.

"We’ve always been in the clear," Arnold said on Saturday.

UH athletic director Ben Jay told the Star-Advertiser on two occasions in recent weeks that the men’s hoops program was "on the cliff" of the APR penalty benchmark of 930 out of 1,000. But UH’s most recent projections have its four-year rating (going back to 2009-10) as a solid 954, slightly above the national average and well outside danger of a postseason ban or lost scholarships for the 2014-15 season.

"The kids performed well during this last semester," Jay said. "We had a couple of waiver points, that also helps. It’s looking up, and I’m really happy about it … (the 954) is exactly what we want to see."

Arnold, who did not comment on the issue until Saturday, said UH picked up points on two former players who were erroneously docked points within the UH system. In addition, two scholarship players who are transferring out of the program this summer, Manroop Clair and Garrett Jefferson, are leaving in good academic standing, which will not negatively affect the team’s APR.

Up to two points per scholarship player per semester are awarded toward the APR score, based on whether they stay at the same school and remain in good academic standing. The scores are added up and converted to a scale out of 1,000.

Arnold, Jay and the rest of the UH administration have hit the books and are now on the same page.

"I’ve had a number of conversations with the administration," Arnold said. "We’ve talked about it and we’ve found and understand that it was a couple of miscalculations. It’s unfortunate, because I think the program took a lot of unnecessary beating. But I understand that, and that’s part of dealing with the NCAA and the different rules and whatnot. We’re not the only ones in that boat. But what was never an issue was the academics of this team. … My guys go to class, my guys do a great job in the classroom. My guys progress to graduation. And that’s the only thing that was a little bit bothersome, was people kind of miscalculating that."

Arnold said he did not want to comment on the matter previously in part because grades were not yet in for the spring semester.

In men’s basketball, where a team’s score hinges on 13 scholarship players in a given season, a lost point from a single player can swing a team’s four-year score dramatically. For example, UH seeks a waiver for an APR point for former Rainbow Warriors guard Shaquille Stokes because he was near the threshold of eligibility (a 2.6 GPA) before he went to play at Hofstra in 2012. That could bump the APR as high as 960, the program’s second-highest four-year mark since the NCAA instituted the score a decade ago.

UH took APR hits from two academically ineligible players who were dismissed from the team after the 2011-12 season; the program posted a 918 that year, the lowest of Arnold’s three-year tenure. But UH is positioned to bounce back in the just-completed academic year.

Departed senior Vander Joaquim hasn’t yet graduated, but if he signs a pro contract by October as expected, he will maximize his contribution to the APR. A freshman departing to go pro, Ozren Pavlovic, can give UH a perfect APR score for 2012-13 if he completes some coursework this summer.

Another boost came from freshman Michael Harper. Harper came into the program as a walk-on in the fall but was awarded a scholarship before the spring semester.

"I don’t think a lot of people knew that," Arnold said. "One of our many outstanding students. The high majority of our students are above 3.0."

The program has felt the sting of NCAA academic sanctions before. In 2008-09, Bob Nash’s second year as coach, UH was docked two scholarships, from 13 to 11, based on a four-year APR score of 889 from 2003 to 2007 in Riley Wallace’s last years as coach.

The NCAA has since stepped up its requirements, requiring programs to stay above 930 or face a possible postseason ban.

Arnold sees no imminent danger on the horizon. All five signees for 2013-14 are already admitted into school, he said.

"The future is only brighter for us, APR-wise and academically, because all the guys we’ve got coming in are great students," Arnold said. "All the young guys are great students. Our seniors next year, one of them’s already graduated, Davis (Rozitis). And the other ones are ahead of schedule to graduate."