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EXCLUSIVE: Prominent transgender athlete Blaire Fleming has made allegations about her former teammate Brooke Slusser’s lifestyle and studies. Slusser disputed the allegations.
Last Sunday, on the one-year anniversary of their last college volleyball game together for San Jose State, a conference championship loss, Slusser told PK Press Club Digital that she developed an eating disorder, which led to anorexia and the loss of her menstrual cycle.
Slusser said the ailments stemmed from emotional distress suffered during his final season with Fleming in 2024. Slusser filed several lawsuits after discovering that Fleming was transgender and that the two had shared locker rooms and rooms during their first season together in 2023.
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Slusser also fled San Jose State’s campus and later dropped out of classes during his final semester last spring. She said the constant in-person harassment from students who opposed her position made her feel “unsafe” there. She and her family said she was still working to finish her education.
Fleming responded to PK Press Club Digital’s request on social media for a response to Slusser’s revelations.
Blaire Fleming of the San Jose State Spartans watches the third set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym on October 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
“She is anorexic and has had difficulty eating for as long as I have known her.[,] that is, since 2023. She literally weighed herself 2-3 times a day and tracked it on her whiteboard in her room…. So I really don’t care and I feel bad for her. And she didn’t drop out of her classes[,] she failed[,] I hope this helps!” Fleming wrote. “Now please stop hitting me.”
Slusser provided a statement to PK Press Club Digital disputing Fleming’s allegations.
“These statements are simply false. I have always led a very healthy lifestyle. Before these events took place[,] I was very disciplined about fueling myself for athletics and [kept] follow to make sure I was where I needed to be[,] be the best athlete. It wasn’t until all this craziness started that my healthy lifestyle became very unhealthy and I wasn’t eating the amount I should,” Slusser said.
“As for school[,] I have decided to stay home after fall 2024 to improve and heal. So no[,] I did not return to San Jose to enroll in more courses at an institution that did not meet my interests.”
Former SJSU volleyball star Brooke Slusser and her parents Paul and Kim Slusser at a game Sept. 8, which Kim said is “the last good memory we have of her playing.” (Courtesy of Kim Slusser)
PK Press Club Digital’s initial inquiry into Fleming began with a reference to Slusser’s response to Fleming’s claim that he was “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] What I was going through was terrible.”
Fleming previously said Slusser “needs to live.” The statement follows claims from former SJSU assistant volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose that Fleming received special treatment from head coach Todd Kress.
“Brooke Slusser and Melissa need to have a life,” Fleming told PK Press Club Digital on October 1.
Slusser replied: “I have a good life.”
Who is Blaire Fleming?
Fleming, a biological male, was born in 2002 at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, just south of Omaha, according to the SJSU Athletics profile of the athlete. But Fleming grew up in Virginia.
According to the New York Times, Fleming discovered transgender in 8th grade. Then, at age 14, Fleming reportedly worked with a doctor and therapist to make a “social and medical” transition.
Fleming played girls volleyball at John Champe High School. At a listed height of 6 feet 1 inch, Fleming is two inches taller than the average women’s college volleyball recruit at 5 feet 9 inches, according to NCSA College Recruitment.
In November 2018, Fleming published 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 jumping over the net and hitting the ball, while trap music blared in the background.
As a senior, Fleming led John Champe to a historic 19-win season in 2019, was named to the all-district first team and set the school single-season record for wins in a season, according to 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 match against Texas State, but lost in five sets.
Fleming transferred to SJSU ahead of the 2022 season.
How did we get there between Slusser and Fleming?
Brooke Slusser #10 and Blaire Fleming #3 of the San Jose State Spartans call a play during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym on October 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
Slusser transferred to SJSU for the 2023 season – one year after Fleming. Slusser alleged in his lawsuits against the NCAA and the Mountain West Conference that he was never told Fleming’s birth sex and that the two regularly shared hotel rooms during trips.
Slusser and Batie-Smoose, who is pursuing his own lawsuit against the university, told PK Press Club Digital that Fleming allegedly asked to share a room with Slusser and that team management granted that request.
“Blaire wanted to live with Brooke Slusser, and that’s who Blaire felt comfortable with, so Blaire gets what she wants,” Batie-Smoose said.
PK Press Club Digital has already contacted Fleming and SJSU for a response to these allegations.
Slusser alleged in his lawsuits against the NCAA and Mountain West that Fleming admitted to being transgender during an ice cream conversation 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 from opposing teams. Each package attracted increasing attention during an election season media cycle, placing SJSU volleyball players and their opponents in the political spotlight.
President Donald Trump even addressed the scandal during his election campaign in October of that year, during an all-female town hall event on PK Press Club Channel.
Police protection was regularly provided to the team.
Slusser alleged in her Mountain West lawsuit, filed in November, that she was informed by teammates of an alleged conversation Fleming had with an opposing player, discussing a plan to have Slusser get poked in the face during a game. Batie-Smoose reported these same allegations in a Title IX complaint against the school, and was subsequently suspended and her contract was not renewed in January.
Mountain West commissioned an independent investigation into the allegations against Fleming and determined that sufficient evidence could not be found to impose disciplinary action.
PK Press Club Digital has widely reported on the conditions of this investigation and its progress, drawing critical responses from the White House, the US Department of Justice and members of Congress.
EX-SJSU STAR BROOKE SLUSSER MAKES NEW ALLEGATIONS ABOUT INVESTIGATION INTO TRANS TEAMMATE’S ALLEGED PLOT TO MOTHER HIM
In the final weeks of the 2024 regular season, Slusser and 10 other plaintiffs in his lawsuit against Mountain West filed a request for a preliminary injunction to have Fleming declared ineligible to continue playing and for the forfeits to SJSU to be vacated. Federal Judge Kato Crews, appointed by former President Joe Biden, denied the request, keeping Slusser and Fleming together on the field for practices 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 match to Colorado State, three sets to one. This defeat allowed the Spartans to avoid bringing their scandal into the NCAA tournament.
Slusser left campus shortly afterward at the insistence of his parents. According to the New York Times, Fleming also resumed classes remotely the following semester from Virginia.
Slusser said she was close to returning to play NCAA beach volleyball last spring and even had discussions with coaches from other schools about recruiting. But she ultimately decided against it and moved to North Carolina, where she coached youth volleyball.
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Slusser and her family say she has recovered from her anorexia and is working to finish her education. She aspires to start her own dietetics business.
Fleming appeared to celebrate his graduation from SJSU in a post on his Instagram Stories in May.
The U.S. Department of Education is currently investigating the university for potential Title IX violations.
