Prevette’s Alleged Reign of Terror
One of the greatest aspects of competitive sports are the coaches. They can be immortalized as inspirational visionaries- your Joe Paternos – or larger-than-life, eccentric drill sergeants – your Bobby Knights. While we generally appreciate the former more, the examining the latter can be a little more fun.
Such is the case the Collegian‘s examination of women’s tennis coach Dawna Prevette – who, according to player allegations, is just a big bag of crazy.
About to bite into a slice of pepperoni pizza, sophomore Denisa Zobeideh removed the pepperoni. That’s all it took for Dawna Prevette, head coach of the Penn State women’s tennis team, to suspend her for the next tournament, Zobeideh’s father said.
Well, maybe that’s just a situation that was taken out of context. Surely a coach couldn’t be that arbitrary in punishing players…
[Former tennis team member Lauren] Holzberg said she was kicked off the team “because of a lack of eye contact.”
Okay…that may be somewhat extreme, but I’ll admit, good eye contact is always a desired quality in young professionals. Maybe she’s just strict.
[Mother of tennis recruit Lynley Wasson] said Prevette had the team keep a food diary, so Lynley’s parents would sneak food to her and have her eat it in a restroom.
Is this a tennis coach, or Ben Stiller’s character from Heavyweights?
All joking about her cartoonishly hard-ass nature aside, the team has a .288 winning percentage with Prevette as the head coach. Looking at these claims from players (and the obvious damage to the player-coach relationship resulting from them being made public), combined with the poor performance, one has to wonder how she still has a job.
The most logical argument seems to be that Prevette is still only a second year coach and that everyone is still adjusting to her methods. But really, if these accusations are true, can the University continue to justify her employment despite such poor results?
The Collegian has an in depth examination of the coach’s relationship with her players (spoiler – by this account, it’s not very healthy) that is too intensive to review here. But if you’ve ever been berated by a coach, it’s a must-read.
[Source: The Daily Collegian]
Your ad blocker is on.
Please choose an option below.
Purchase a Subscription!
About the Author
Follow Your Heart, It’ll All Work Out: Brady Miller’s Senior Column
“This was home, and this is where I needed to be. I wanted to be the first from my family to attend and graduate from the school that has been such a big part of our lives.”
Penn State Professor Boaz Dvir Releases Documentary ‘Class Of Her Own,’ Inspires Teachers Nationwide
“Class of Her Own” will be available for streaming on Tuesday, April 16.
Lady Lion Alum Ashley Owusu ‘Value’ Pick For Dallas Wings Pending NCAA Eligibility
Wings President Greg Bibb said Owusu applied for another year of NCAA eligibilty.
Gorman Abruptly Resigns
Head coach of the men’s soccer program Barry Gorman unexpectedly announced his resignation Monday. He leaves a legacy of 22 years of coaching and three Big Ten titles in his wake. Citing “personal reasons,” he has left the team to a nation-wide search for his successor.
“We expected Gorman to be there,” [rising Senior and Co-Captain Andres] Casais said of next season. “He was a father figure to us.”
Oof, that can’t feel good. The move isn’t completely out of the blue, as Gorman was periodically absent during the past few weeks without notice. But from all accounts, his intention to resign was only revealed yesterday. On the abandonment scale, this registers just slightly above “going to the store for some cigarettes and never coming back.”