Release courtesy of Muhlenberg Athletic Communications
Ron Rohn, the winningest head coach in Muhlenberg College athletic history, has announced that the 2025-26 season will be his last at the helm of the women's basketball team.
"I still love coaching and working with our student-athletes day in and day out," said Rohn. "We have a great group of women on this team, and I feel that I could coach them for another 10-15 years.
"But the reality is that coaching is a year-round vocation, most of the time 24/7. There are just too many things on my bucket list that I want to get to at this point in my life, and I can't do them without short-changing the players on my team. My fiance Marybeth and I love to travel and I very much want to spend every moment that I can with her. So once this season is over, we are going to start doing everything that we have been putting on hold."
Sadie Nelson, Rohn's assistant for the last two seasons, has been named associate head coach and will take over the reins of the program for the 2026-27 season.
"I feel that I will be leaving the current players and future recruits in good hands, with someone who will continue the winning tradition that we have created here, and just as essentially, maintain the positive culture of academic/career success and close friendships/team chemistry that is important to all of our players," said Rohn. "Knowing that this will be an easier transition for our players was very important to me."
Rohn will enter his final season with a career record of 427-188 (.694) in 23 seasons. No other Muhlenberg coach has recorded more than 311 wins.
Since arriving in Allentown, Rohn has led the Mules to eight Centennial Conference championships, nine NCAA Tournament bids, two NCAA "Sweet 16" appearances, and 11 seasons of 20 or more wins. The two-time CC coach of the year has coached 44 all-conference selections and eight All-America selections in addition to the all-time CC leaders in points, three-pointers, assists, and triple-doubles.
Rohn was hired in 2001 and made an immediate impact. The Mules set a school record by winning their first 13 games and climbed as high as No. 8 in the Division III poll.
In his third season, Rohn introduced a fast-paced style of play based on constant pressure, frequent substitutions, and three-point shooting. Muhlenberg led all three NCAA divisions in scoring that year, averaging 90.8 points per game, and shattered numerous school records.
It was defense, however, that gave Rohn his first CC championship. In 2006, the Mules went 26-3 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a team that held opponents to 52.1 points per game, at the time a record for the shot-clock era.
Muhlenberg also won the CC title in 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012, advancing to the "Sweet 16" for the first time in program history in 2009. That year's team was the first (and still only) one in CC history to go undefeated through league's regular season and playoffs and was ranked 14th in final Division III poll.
The Mules returned to the "Sweet 16" in 2011, and from 2015 to 2017 became the first CC basketball team (men's or women's) to win three straight championships. The 2016 squad finished with a record of 25-3 and was ranked 14th in the final Division III poll.
Rohn, who came to Muhlenberg with experience as a Division I head coach at Hofstra University and Colgate University, recorded the 500th win of his collegiate coaching career during the 2024-25 season.
"I am sure there will be time to look back and reflect on all that Muhlenberg women's basketball has achieved during my time here … all of the championships, the exciting games," said Rohn. "I will look back with strong emotions at the many wonderful people I got to know at the college, and most importantly every single player and parent that I have been blessed with.
"But for now, I am totally focused on preparing this team for the coming season, and doing everything we can to win a Centennial Conference championship with our current team. They deserve my best and I am committed to giving them my very best."
