Instead, they met with Iowa State senior associate athletics director Shamaree Brown. Brown told the athletes the remainder of the ISU gymnastics season was canceled.
“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,’ Brown said in a statement released Feb. 8. ‘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 cancellation occurred three days after the Cyclones forfeited a meet against West Virginia. In a statement on Feb. 5, coach Ashley Miles Greig said the competition was canceled because, ‘At this time, we do not have enough student-athletes available to safely field a team.’
Brown confirmed to USA TODAY Sports Network he held individual meetings with gymnasts the week after the cancellation. Iowa State administration officials met with members of the gymnastics program, including assistant coaches, on Feb. 13.
School administrators have not said publicly what led to the cancellation. And fans and athletes are left wondering what the canceled season means for gymnasts’ careers and if the program will ever return.
‘They’re scared,’ said one parent of a current gymnast who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared being identified could hurt their child’s career. “My concern is that my daughter has no idea what her future holds: How many years she has left of gymnastics, where she’s going to be going to school, what’s going to go on?’
Former Iowa State gymnast Shea Mattingly, whose last name was Anderson when she graduated in 2012, is part of a group of more than 100 alumni who mobilized in a group chat and drafted a statement asking for transparency, which they posted online. They also emailed the statement to Iowa State administrators including Brown, athletic director Jamie Pollard and interim university president David Spalding.
“As alumni, we just want accountability that the university is doing what’s right for those student-athletes and the program,’ Mattingly said. ‘Those are our biggest concerns and I think the silence is killing it and I think that’s what’s scary. I’m sure you see all the rumors that are (spreading) all over the internet and I think the longer it goes on, the worse it gets. People just speculating. That’s where we’re just trying to get answers.”
Iowa State gymnastics alumni concerned about season’s cancellation
In their email, the alumni expressed their disappointment over the program’s cancellation and asked how the school is supporting current gymnasts.
Josie Te Slaa, who competed for Iowa State gymnastics from 2022-25 when her last name was Bergstrom, said alumni feel they deserve answers so they can advocate for the current gymnasts.
“I think just any way that alumni or administration can support them and reach out, have an encouraging word, will be helpful in advocating for them and the program,’ Te Slaa said. ‘Setting up different counseling or therapy or getting together team meetings and just talking in ways that could be supportive for the future of Iowa State gymnastics. I think the girls just need a lot of support from that end emotionally, mentally.”
Mattingly said she and a handful of other alums sent individual follow-up emails to administrators, reiterating their concerns.
“Obviously that’s our number one concern is just for the student-athletes, like their current needs, are they being supported, do they have someone to talk to right now,’ Mattingly said. ‘Their season just got cut short. This is new territory for them. What happens next? I’m sure they’re scared, they’re worried and we just want to know is someone guiding them through this? Who do they have to talk to? So that’s our obviously number one concern as alumni, and then obviously our program in general. Just what are they doing to ensure that this program stays successful in the future?’
Te Slaa said Iowa State’s response has been unsatisfactory.
‘Very vague responses, but in their shoes, they have a lot of people reaching out, a lot of things to sort out,’ Te Slaa said. ‘I am very grateful that we have gotten a response and that we are respected in that way, that they were able to respond to us, maybe not answering specific questions or anything. … But obviously, yeah, still looking for more clarification on things from administration.’
Te Slaa said her experience as an Iowa State gymnast was positive, and added she cares deeply about the future of the program because of the relationships and lessons that she gained during her time on the team.
‘The program means a lot to me because of the lessons I learned as a gymnast,’ she said. ‘Not only are you a gymnast learning lessons, you’re a person and a human learning lessons. I think there are a lot of life lessons that come from being a student-athlete. So I think the opportunity for those gymnasts in club gymnastics to go to college and do the sport they love is super important to me and for Iowa State to still have a program that offers that for young gymnasts like I was.’
Iowa State gymnasts remain in limbo
Iowa State spokesman Nick Joos told USA TODAY Sports Network on Feb. 9 the school’s compliance department would work with the Big 12 Conference to apply for season-of-competition waivers that could allow Cyclone gymnasts to retain a year of NCAA eligibility.
In an email to USA TODAY Sports Network on Feb. 16, Brown confirmed the waiver request process was ongoing and said he did not have a timeline for its completion.
‘We are currently working through the various factors required for an NCAA waiver request; however, we are not able to provide a date for when waivers will be submitted,’ Brown wrote. ‘The NCAA waiver process is complex and, in some cases, may require submission by another institution depending on the situation.’
Whether or not the gymnasts receive waivers, it remains to be seen whether they will have the option to continue their careers at Iowa State.
When USA TODAY Sports Network asked directly whether there have been discussions to eliminate the Iowa State gymnastics program, Brown responded, ‘Our priority has remained on supporting the gymnasts in the aftermath of this decision, and we have not shifted our focus away from ensuring they continue to receive the care and resources they need.’
Further complicating gymnastics’ circumstances are the program’s and Iowa State’s financial situations.
Iowa State’s annual financial report submitted to the NCAA for fiscal year 2025 showed the gymnastics program lost more than $1.4 million. Gymnastics generated $287,392 in total operating revenues with $1.69 million in expenses.
Gymnastics was allotted 14 scholarships, according to Iowa State’s most recent financial report.
Overall, the athletic department reported total operating revenues of almost $118 million that exceeded its expenses by $6,045 last year. Football and men’s basketball were the only sports that did not lose money.
In a presentation to the university’s Board of Regents last summer, the Iowa State athletics department reported a potential $147 million budget deficit through 2031 — essentially a $25 million shortfall per year — as it adjusts to the new revenue-sharing era of collegiate sports. Under the House vs. NCAA settlement, universities are permitted to pay their athletes for name, image and likeness rights. The cap on payments this year is $20.5 million, and it will continue to increase.
If Iowa State cannot grow its revenues or find assistance elsewhere, such as direct state support, its financial situation will grow increasingly difficult and could portend hard choices — like the future of some non-revenue sports.
Meanwhile, Brown told USA TODAY Sports Network in an email on Feb. 16 that Cyclone gymnasts are not being permitted to use Iowa State’s gymnastics facilities, ‘As a result of concerns that were raised, which ultimately led to the suspension of the season.’
Brown replied to a follow-up message asking him to specify what those concerns were and who raised them. ‘I’m not able to share any additional details,’ he wrote.
According to NCAA policy, the Iowa State gymnasts are allowed to train at private gyms so long as no more than two of them are present at the same time.
Soon after the season’s cancellation, at least half of the Cyclone gymnasts revived their old recruiting accounts on Instagram and began posting videos of their routines, possibly signaling their intent to transfer.
The NCAA transfer-portal window for women’s gymnastics opens March 30. NCAA policy stipulates non-football athletes can initiate a transfer request at any time if their sport is discontinued or if their head coach departs. In the second scenario, athletes have a 30-day window to enter the transfer portal.
Brown confirmed Miles Greig and the rest of her coaching staff — assistants Jazmyn Estrella, Mary Wise and Ragan Smith — remained employed as of Feb. 16, writing, ‘The employment status of our coaching staff has not changed.’
This is Miles Greig’s third season at Iowa State, her first collegiate coaching job. She was a four-time NCAA champion gymnast at Alabama and a member of the U.S. women’s national team from 2001-03. Before Iowa State hired her in April 2023, according to her biography on the school’s athletics website, Miles Greig worked in automobile finance while serving as a choreographer to optional and elite level gymnasts. She also worked as a gymnastics analyst on ESPN network broadcasts.
The Cyclones have a 20-42 record in three seasons under Miles Greig, including a 2-8 mark this season before the cancellation. The Cyclones were ranked 59th nationally, which slotted them as the lowest-rated program from a power conference, behind one Division II school and only slightly ahead of a number of Division III programs.
Miles Greig contract expires on June 30, 2026, an athletic department spokesman confirmed.
Miles Greig did not return a phone call for this article.
This post appeared first on USA TODAY
