IUP Women's Basketball Coach Fired

INDIANA, Pa. (KDKA) -- As students on the campus of Indiana University of Pennsylvania begin preparing for final exams and graduation, mystery is swirling over why the head coach of the women's basketball team was fired.

Coach Jeff Dow and the IUP women's basketball team had a remarkable record.

Under Coach Dow, the Crimson Hawks had a 73 percent winning percentage.

Josh Carney, who covers the team for the campus newspaper, can't believe Dow was canned.

"He's one of the most successful coaches in IUP history, well over 100 wins; and from what I saw, all the girls seem to enjoy him as a coach," said Carney. "He did have a hard coaching style."

So, why fire Coach Dow? No one is saying for sure.

But some on campus say the coach was extremely tough on his team. Many of the players quit.

"He pushed his players hard, just like pushing them conditioning wise – lots of conditioning practices and stuff like that," said Joshua Wiegand, who plays for the men's team.

"There was allegations of inappropriate behavior as the head coach, and now in light of the whole Mike Rice situation at Rutgers, I'm thinking there could be something along those lines," added Carney.

KDKA's Paul Martino reached out to several of the players on the women's basketball team for a comment, but none have responded.

Coach Dow told the Indiana Gazette that he was shocked to receive word of his firing.

University officials are calling it a personnel matter.

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