SJSU volleyball scandal probe finds team allegedly recruited male for advantage without telling female players

"In April 2022, [former San Jose State University] women's indoor volleyball head coach [Trent Kersten] began actively recruiting a male volleyball athlete from another university to join the SJSU women's indoor volleyball team," alleges official U.S. Department of Education (ED) findings.

"Most, if not all" the female SJSU players shared intimate spaces with the trans athlete without knowing the athlete's birth sex, per the findings.

"The evidence is that at various times, most, if not all, of the women on the team at the time of sharing a dorm room, hotel room, and/or locker room with Student 1 were unaware that Student 1 was a male."

What happened next has become the subject of a years-long media controversy and ongoing legal dispute between the entire California State University system (CSU) and President Donald Trump's administration. The CSU is suing to challenge ED's findings that determined SJSU violated Title IX in its handling of a trans athlete from 2022-24.

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The findings allege that SJSU's head coach at the time, only titled "Coach 1" in the files but Fox News Digital reasonably believes that coach to be Kersten, said a trans athlete that he considered recruiting at the time was "good enough to make us better."

Fox News Digital also reasonably believes the trans athlete, titled Student 1 in the files, to be former SJSU player Blaire Fleming.

"Additional communications indicate Coach 1 stated that Student 1 texted him wanting to commit to transferring to San José State University. Coach 1 stated his belief that Student 1 'is good enough to make us better,'" the findings state.

"Internal email communications provided by the University indicate the head women’s volleyball coach contacted the Director of the San José State University PRIDE Center & Gender Equity Center to discuss recruiting a male volleyball player (Student 1) for the San José State University women’s indoor volleyball team. Additional communications indicate Coach 1 stated that Student 1 texted him wanting to commit...

"...the University knew Student 1 is male."

Kersten received a letter of support from one of Fleming's former coaches, the findings claim.

"A letter of support sent to the University from a former club volleyball coach for Student 1 states: 'We had a team full of closers, hitters who could finish the rally easily. In a team that talented, [Student 1] still stood out.'"

At the time, Fleming just took a year off after one college season at Coastal Carolina in South Carolina, as a scholarship player in 2020.

According to an interview with The New York Times, Fleming "wasn’t fitting in at the school; like many students during the Covid-19 pandemic" and was "struggling" with "mental health." So Fleming withdrew, returned home to Virginia and took a year off from school, per the outlet, then received the SJSU offer in summer 2022.

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Kersten allegedly communicated a dilemma on whether to tell the other players about Fleming, per the files.

"The internal communications also indicated a concern regarding whether or not Coach 1 should inform the women on the San José State University women’s indoor volleyball team that a male player would be joining the team," the findings state.

"Coach 1 stated he wanted to ask the women on the team their thoughts after they found out Student 1 was joining the team, but he did not want to relinquish decision making power to the women on the team regarding whether a male player would be allowed to join the team."

The New York Times reported that Fleming said it was important that the players at SJSU knew the athlete was trans, upon arriving. Then Fleming and Kersten reportedly discussed the idea of having Fleming write a letter to tell the other players, but the two ultimately decided that Fleming would tell other teammates individually, once Fleming "knew them better."

Multiple former SJSU players have since come forward to allege they were never told by the university or Fleming of the athlete's birth sex before spending extensive time with the athlete either on the court, in the locker room or in sleeping quarters, including Brooke Slusser, Elle Patterson and Alyssa Sugai, who claim they all found out through other means.

Former assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose came forward to say she was never told of Fleming's birth sex before accepting the job at the university, and alleges she was told not to tell players once she found out.

Slusser, Patterson and Sugai are plaintiffs in a Title IX lawsuit against SJSU and the CSU, while Batie-Smoose has filed her own wrongful termination lawsuit against the institution.

Kersten left SJSU after one season with Fleming in 2022 to take the head coaching job at Loyola Marymount, where he only coached for two seasons before taking over Oregon in 2025, where he currently coaches. Fox News Digital reached out to Oregon for a response, but the university declined to provide a statement, deferring the inquiry to SJSU.

Current SJSU head volleyball coach Todd Kress, who took over the program in 2023 and oversaw the controversial 2024 season, expressed frustration with Kersten for not checking on Fleming's well-being after the controversy went public, in a November 2024 interview with OutKick.

"My frustration with Trent is an unfortunate situation," Kress said. "[Kersten] obviously knows Blaire is in the crosshairs of this debate, and yet he has not reached out to [Fleming] one time to check in on [Fleming's] mental health. I find it sad, to be honest."

The trans athlete's time at SJSU ultimately resulted in emotional distress, as The New York Times reported that Fleming was "suicidal" at times that last year in 2024.

Slusser said of Fleming's suicidal thoughts, "If that's what [Fleming] was going through, that's terrible."

Patterson called Fleming a "great person."

"Very nice, great person... very outgoing," Patterson said of her first impressions of Fleming.

"I was never really around Blaire, that much outside of practices and stuff. But as a person definitely warm, like the first couple months of being there, I had fun. I enjoyed being around Blaire, nothing against Blaire as a person."

"San José State University knowingly recruited a male student athlete (Student 1) to join the San José State University women's indoor volleyball team with the intent of gaining a competitive advantage over other teams," the findings state.

Fleming made an immediate impact for SJSU averaging 2.93 kills per set and earning a conference player of the week recognition in 2022. Then, even while battling an injury in 2023 that limited playing time, Fleming improved to average 3.57 kills per set.

The trans athlete's best season came in 2024, amid the backdrop of the scandal.

Fleming posted a career-high 3.88 kills per set — ranking second in the entire conference — and regularly delivered high-volume scoring performances, including a career-best 25 kills in a single match. It came on senior day, in a high-stakes matchup against Colorado State with top seeding in the conference on the line.

Fleming's 25th kill that day was a game-winning service ace, not a spike, as the athlete was swarmed by teammates in celebration.

SJSU reached the Mountain West Conference Tournament final, as Fleming earned an Honorable Mention All-Mountain West selection from the league's coaches. SJSU lost that conference final in a revenge match for Colorado State. SJSU seemingly only advanced to that game because Boise State forfeited in the second round, after forfeiting two regular-season matches to SJSU. The conference semifinal was SJSU's seventh win via forfeit that year, amid protest over Fleming.

Fox News Digital has reached out to SJSU and the CSU for a response.

ED's findings were provided to Fox News Digital by SJSU in response to a public records request. The findings are currently being challenged in a lawsuit by SJSU and CSU against ED.

"Because we believe OCR’s findings aren’t grounded in the facts or the law, SJSU and the CSU filed a lawsuit today against the federal government to challenge those findings and prevent the federal government from taking punitive action against the university, including the potential withholding of critical federal funding," SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson announced in March.

"This is not a step we take lightly. However, we have a responsibility to defend the integrity of our institution and the rule of law, while ensuring that every member of our community is treated fairly and in accordance with the law. Our position is simple: We have followed the law and cannot be punished for doing so."