Wondering why there is no women's basketball at Rose-Hulman?

Jan. 13—When Rose-Hulman announced that its 2022-23 women's basketball season was being canceled — a few hours after the female Engineers lost to NCAA Division III powerhouse Transylvania 74-47 on Dec. 3 in Hulbert Arena — that news turned a few heads in the Wabash Valley.

After all, the Engineers still had seven players, a slim roster but seemingly enough.

The Transylvania loss was their first Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game of the season and they were 2-3 overall under the guidance of veteran coach Jon Prevo, who led Rose teams to the Division III national tournament in 2017 and 2018.

Then on Dec. 15, Prevo announced his retirement as women's basketball coach through a Rose-Hulman news release. Contacted by text in December, Prevo declined to comment about his reasons for stepping down.

Prevo, 62 and a cancer survivor, compiled an overall record of 213-189 in his 17 seasons at the women's helm. Before that, he spent 12 seasons as a men's assistant to the late Jim Shaw.

At the time of the cancellation announcement last month, first-year Rose athletic director Ayanna Tweedy cited "protecting the health and safety of the student-athletes due to low roster numbers" as the reason for her decision.

A former shot-putter and discus thrower at Bowie State University, Tweedy passed the one-year anniversary mark as Rose-Hulman's AD, having started Jan. 3, 2022, earlier this month.

The Tribune-Star recently visited her to discuss different aspects of her first year, but primarily the unique call to halt the women's basketball season in December.

"We had a total of nine players at the beginning of the season," Tweedy explained. "From the coaches' standpoint and my standpoint and from the individuals on the team — the student-athletes — we all wanted to make sure we started the season off healthy and strong.

"We decided to take it week-by-week, just to see how the team was going to hold up throughout the season. ... After our competition against DePauw [a 79-41 loss Nov. 27 at Greencastle], we had an injury [of a fairly serious nature] and we finished the game out. But, unfortunately, we were down to six student-athletes by the end of that weekend.

"So we had to really take a step back and ask ourselves, 'Are we doing what's best for our student-athletes by continuing the season?' We had a lot of options on the table. But there was no option that was strong enough to say that this is going to end on a healthier note for our team."

Tweedy praised the athletic department's medical staff and sought its advice at the time.

"I believe that Friday [Dec. 2] going into the Transylvania game, we had six or seven student-athletes," she continued. "By the time we ended the game, we had at least six healthy. We knew, ethically, that's not how we want to complete the season."

Tweedy said the Rose players were informed about the season stoppage prior to the Dec. 3 HCAC matchup.

"They, as a team, wanted to still compete in their home game against Transylvania," she pointed out.

A less-than-ideal but still possible response could have been to recruit more young women on campus — perhaps from other athletic teams — to join the basketball squad and boost its number to a more comfortable level.

"As a former student-athlete and a coach, I know it's hard recruiting midseason for that type of sport," Tweedy stated. "Not knowing the condition of those student-athletes that we could potentially be recruiting could put us in a really bad spot."

Tweedy also said the current healthy basketball players offered a mixed bag of reactions to canceling the season — from disappointed to understanding — but they all agreed with it in the end.

Asked if she knew when Prevo determined in his mind that it was time for him to retire, Tweedy said she did not.

"When it comes to coaches' and staff's transitioning, they have to make the best decision for them," she added. "And outside of us not being able to talk about personnel issues, I have no clue where his mind was at.

"But I can say that the health and well-being of the student-athletes were at the forefront of his decision. And he displayed that through and through."

Last week, another attempt by the Tribune-Star to get direct comments from Prevo about his retirement was unsuccessful.

Kevin Robinson served as an assistant to Prevo for the Engineers' female basketball team from 2010 until last summer. He also served as women's golf coach at the engineering institute.

Contacted by phone recently, Robinson admitted he had an argument with Tweedy that led to him resigning and taking a job at Young Harris College, located close to his mother's home in northeast Georgia, as the college's director of golf.

Asked about Robinson's departure, Tweedy said she's not able to comment about it for the same reason she's not able to comment about Prevo's retirement — they are personnel matters.

"I hope he's doing great things at the other institution," she did mention. "He recruited great student-athletes [at Rose-Hulman] and I commend him for the women's golf program that he turned around — a nationally ranked [Division III] program. And now coach [Jon] Lester is continuing that legacy."

Robinson insisted that before last summer, he never had any intentions of leaving Rose, then the "little run-in" happened with Tweedy that changed his mind.

"The writing was on the wall," he said. "I thought to myself, 'If I see something halfway decent, I'll go check it out.'"

Robinson declined to comment publicly about Prevo's retirement, emphasizing that he left for Young Harris College before this season started and doesn't know enough details about injuries and athlete departures taking their toll on the roster. He did still keep in touch with Terre Haute friends after his own departure, however.

Robinson noted that past Rose women's basketball teams had finished entire seasons with only seven players under Prevo's guidance and he was an assistant for three of them.

As for why that situation seemed destined to happen again, Robinson said, "I think a strong argument could be made that it wasn't [Prevo's] fault the number got down to seven."

Tweedy said her next step in regard to the women's basketball program is to search for a new coach to start the 2023-24 campaign fresh and hopefully finish it, as scheduled, with a higher number of players.

"We are looking for a coach who is all about culture, someone who understands the current student-athlete of today," she stressed. "Especially at the Division III level, student-athletes are looking to be a part of a team ... but also being able to academically be strong at the institution.

"We have great, high-caliber student-athletes here."

The search process was set to begin this month. Tweedy said she doesn't care if the selectee ends up being a male or female.

"I'll just say that I really want the best fit in the individual who wants to come in and do really good work," she said. "I want to push for more diversity in the [athletic] department in all areas. . . . But I want to make sure we just have the right fit."

Regarding other sports at Rose-Hulman — particularly men's basketball and football — Tweedy is pleased with their performances and cultures. In other words, no complaints.

"Across the board, all of our sports are really strong," she said. "The culture is there. The student-athletes have bought in."

Tweedy also wanted to express her appreciation to Rose alum Pat Noyes and his wife Cindy for providing the necessary funds to build a high-tech, new football scoreboard that debuted this past season at Cook Stadium.