NCAA Iowa State cancels the remainder of the 2026 season

[cftmoonlight79]

I know there are posts, but I just read they canceled the rest of the season. Im hoping someone has the scoop on the whole back story here.

 

[irichluck21]

Yup.

This is huge and not in a good way. They have 18 gymnasts on the roster, so not fielding a full team is inexcusable. It sounds like the rumors that athletes do not want to be at ISU any longer and are going to use the transfer portal, thus not giving up a year of eligibility. Sucks for certain athletes that competed past the week 3 mark and have used up a year of eligibility. I wonder if they can petition NCAA to reinstate a year of eligibility since this was not anything of their doing and have no control over. I would hope they would grant this petition.

One thing for sure. There will be a new head coach in gymnastics for 2026-2027, unless Iowa State decides to disband the gymnastics team altogether.

Iowa State Cancels Remainder Of Gymnastics Season - Iowa State Athletics

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State University Athletics Department has canceled the remainder of the gymnastics season, school officials announced today.

cyclones.com

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State University Athletics Department has canceled the remainder of the gymnastics season, school officials announced today.

"After a careful and thoughtful review of the program over the last week, it became apparent that we do not have enough student-athletes available to safely compete, and thus have made the painful decision to cancel the remainder of our gymnastics season," Senior Associate Athletics Director for Student Services Shamaree Brown said. "The health, safety and overall welfare of our student-athletes is paramount, and it is our responsibility to ensure that they are able to safely train and compete at the highest level."

The Cyclones, 2-8 on the season, had remaining meets scheduled against Western Michigan (Feb. 13), Arizona State (Feb. 22), Arizona (Feb. 27), BYU (March 6) and Iowa (March 13) in addition to the March 21 Big 12 Gymnastics Championships.

Fans who hold tickets to any of the Cyclones' remaining home meets will receive information on the refund process from the ISU Athletics Ticket Office later this week.

 

[cftmoonlight79]

It sounds like they have a mutiny on their hands.

 

[Sasha]

Brutal for the athletes. Will those who want to finish their degree at Iowa State get to keep their scholarships if the team doesn't continue?

 

[RedBirdie]

Holy shit.

ETA: Ashley Miles hired a whole new assistant coaching staff this year. Miles has never acquitted herself well as a coach, and I always found this hire to be really odd because of her complete lack of NCAA coaching experience. And then rather than hire experienced NCAA assistants, she hires Ragan Smith, Jazmyn Estrella, and Mary Wise, who have a collective total of 3 seasons of paid NCAA coaching experience, plus two seasons of student coaching experience--one of those from 20 years ago.

 

[Kara]

Wow! Has anything like this ever happened before?

 

[BB12]

Good on the gymnasts for taking a stand against the terrible coaching. The amount of athletes posting on their recruits accounts the past few day showed there are something much larger at play.

I am concerned that an ISU program wont exist next year. And if it does, it seems like almost every gymnast will be brand new.