Ex-SJSU trans athlete makes disputed claims about female teammate's eating disorder and academic setback
EXCLUSIVE: Prominent transgender athlete Blaire Fleming has made allegations about former teammate Brooke Slusser's lifestyle and academics. Slusser has disputed the allegations.
Last Sunday, on the one-year anniversary of their final college volleyball game together for San Jose State, a conference championship loss, Slusser told Fox News Digital she developed an eating disorder, which led to anorexia and the loss of her menstrual cycle.
Slusser said the ailments stemmed from the emotional distress suffered during her final season with Fleming in 2024. Slusser waged multiple lawsuits after discovering Fleming was transgender and that the two had shared changing spaces and bedrooms during their first season together in 2023.
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Slusser also fled the San Jose State campus and later dropped her classes in her final semester this past spring. She said constant in-person harassment by students who opposed her stance made her feel "unsafe" there. She and her family said she is still working on finishing her degree.
Fleming responded to Fox News Digital's social media inquiry for a response to Slusser's revelations.
"She’s been anorexic and struggled with food since I’ve known her[,] aka since 2023. She literally would weigh herself 2-3x a day and keep track of it on her whiteboard in her room…. So I really don’t care or feel bad for her. And she didn’t drop her classes[,] she failed out[,] hope that helps!" Fleming wrote. "Now please stop hitting me up."
Slusser has provided a statement to Fox News Digital disputing Fleming's allegations.
"These statements are just not true. I have always lived a very healthy lifestyle. Before these events took place[,] I was very disciplined in fueling myself for athletics and [kept] track to make sure I was where I need to be[,] to be the best athlete. It wasn’t until all the craziness started that my healthy lifestyle turned very unhealthy into not eating the amount I should," Slusser said.
"As for school[,] I decided to stay home after fall 2024 to better myself and heal. So no[,] I did not return to San Jose and enroll myself in more courses at an institution that didn’t have my best interest."
Fox News Digital's initial inquiry to Fleming began with a reference to Slusser's response to Fleming's claim of being "suicidal" during the 2024 season, reported in a New York Times Magazine profile in April. The outlet also reported that Fleming cried "almost every night," during the scandal.
Slusser said of Fleming's suicidal thoughts, "If that's what [Fleming] was going through, that's terrible."
Fleming previously said that Slusser "needs to get a life." That statement came in response to claims by former SJSU assistant volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose about Fleming getting special treatment by head coach Todd Kress.
"Brooke Slusser and Melissa need to get a life," Fleming told Fox News Digital on Oct. 1.
Slusser responded, "I have a great life."
Fleming, a biological male, was born in 2002 at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, just south of Omaha, per the athlete's SJSU Athletics profile. But Fleming grew up in Virginia.
According to The New York Times, Fleming discovered transgenderism in the 8th grade. Then, at 14 years old, Fleming reportedly worked with a doctor and therapist to "socially and medically" transition.
Fleming played girls' volleyball at John Champe High School. At a listed height of 6-foot-1, Fleming is four inches taller than the average women's college volleyball recruit of 5-foot-9, according to NCSA College Recruiting.
In November 2018, Fleming posted a highlight reel for college recruiters on the high school sports social media site Hudl. Most of the clips show the same type of play over and over again — Fleming leaping high above the net and slamming the ball down, as trap music blared in the background.
As a senior, Fleming led John Champe to a historic 19-win season in 2019, was named first-team all-district and set the school's single-season record for kills in a season, per Fleming's SJSU profile page.
Fleming's college career began at Coastal Carolina during the COVID-affected 2020 season.
After a 9-1 regular season, Coastal Carolina reached the Sun Belt Conference championship game against Texas State, but lost in five sets.
Fleming transferred to SJSU ahead of the 2022 season.
Slusser transferred to SJSU for the 2023 season – one year after Fleming did. Slusser has alleged in her lawsuits against the NCAA and Mountain West Conference that she was never told Fleming's birth sex, and that the two regularly shared hotel rooms on away trips.
Slusser and Batie-Smoose, who is leading her own lawsuit against the university, have told Fox News Digital that Fleming allegedly requested to be roomed with Slusser, and was allegedly granted that request by team leadership.
"Blaire wanted to room with Brooke Slusser, and that's who Blaire felt comfortable with, so Blaire gets what Blaire wants," Batie-Smoose said.
Fox News Digital has previously reached out to Fleming and SJSU for a response to these allegations.
Slusser has alleged in her lawsuits against the NCAA and Mountain West that Fleming confessed to being transgender during a conversation over ice cream with another teammate in April 2024.
Slusser then joined Riley Gaines' lawsuit against the NCAA in September 2024. What followed was a series of forfeits by opposing teams. Each forfeit compounded growing attention in an election-season media cycle, putting SJSU's volleyball players and their opponents under a massive political spotlight.
President Donald Trump even mentioned the scandal on his campaign trail in October of that year, during a Fox News Channel all-woman town hall event.
Police protection was assigned to the team on a regular basis.
Slusser has alleged in her lawsuit against the Mountain West, which was filed in November, that she was allegedly informed by teammates of an alleged conversation Fleming had with an opposing player, discussing a plan to have Slusser spiked in the face during a match. Batie-Smoose reported those same allegations in a Title IX complaint against the school, and was later suspended and did not have her contract renewed in January.
The Mountain West commissioned a third-party investigation into the allegations against Fleming, and determined that sufficient evidence could not be found to assign discipline.
Fox News Digital has reported extensively on the conditions of that investigation and its handling, prompting critical responses by the White House, U.S. Department of Justice and members of congress.
In the waning weeks of the 2024 regular season, Slusser and 10 other plaintiffs in her lawsuit against the Mountain West filed a request for preliminary injunction to have Fleming be ruled ineligible to continue playing, and to have the forfeits to SJSU reversed. Federal judge Kato Crews, appointed by former President Joe Biden, denied the request, keeping Slusser and Fleming on the court together for practice and games.
Slusser and Fleming were ultimately named to the Mountain West all-conference team, as SJSU's only honorees.
They finished the season with a 14-7 record, aided by six conference forfeits, then advanced to the Mountain West championship game after Boise State forfeited in the divisional round.
But they lost in the title game to Colorado State, three sets to one. The loss ensured that the Spartans wouldn't take their scandal into the NCAA tournament.
Slusser left campus shortly after that at the insistence of her parents. According to The New York Times, Fleming also resumed classes remotely the following semester from Virginia.
Slusser said she came close to returning to play NCAA beach volleyball this past spring, and even had discussions with coaches at other schools about recruitment. But she ultimately decided not to, and moved to North Carolina, where she has served as a youth volleyball coach.
Slusser and her family say she has recovered from her anorexia, and is working on finishing her degree. She aspires to start her own business in dietetics.
Fleming appeared to celebrate graduation from SJSU in a post on her Instagram Stories in May.
The U.S. Department of Education is currently investigating the university for potential Title IX violations.
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