Former SJSU volleyball star reveals 'severe' health issue that stemmed from Title IX conflict with school

Sunday marked precisely 1 twelvemonth since Blaire Fleming and Brooke Slusser's last assemblage volleyball crippled for San Jose State University. 

They had been playing together, traveling unneurotic and doing squad bonding activities for months adjacent aft Slusser took ineligible action, alleging she was ne'er told Fleming was a biologic antheral transgender athlete. Before that, they had already shared edifice rooms and changing spaces for a full play successful 2023 earlier Slusser said she adjacent recovered out. 

Slusser present says the panic and accent from that play successful her beingness caused her to make an eating disorder, which led to terrible anorexia that got truthful atrocious she mislaid her menstrual rhythm for 9 months. 

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Brooke Slusser #10 and Blaire Fleming #3 of the San Jose State Spartans telephone a play during the archetypal acceptable against the Air Force Falcons astatine Falcon Court astatine East Gym connected October 19, 2024 successful Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)

"From the accent and however anxious I was each azygous day, I conscionable wasn't eating truly astatine all," Slusser told Fox News Digital.

"I went from astir 160 to 128 [lbs] successful that 1 semester. It decidedly isn't steadfast for idiosyncratic of my size to beryllium that weight, and I ended up losing my menstrual rhythm for 9 months. So it was decidedly severe." 

Slusser is 5-foot-11. 

People astatine location started to instrumentality announcement of the issue. 

"When I came home, immoderate of my friends and household were precise disquieted astir me," she added. "Some of my friends were conscionable like, 'You ever looked bushed each the time. You ever look dormant … I was capable to travel location 3 days that autumn semester my elder year, and I had a person aboriginal connected archer maine that erstwhile I saw her, she went location and cried to her mom, due to the fact that she was truthful disquieted astir me, conscionable due to the fact that she could archer I looked truthful unhealthily skinny." 

She said immoderate days she ate arsenic fewer arsenic 400 calories, past inactive went retired to tribunal to vie with her teammates, and immoderate days she went retired to bash quality interviews connected her conflict to "save women's sports." 

"Every time was truly hard… the hardest happening to bash was, immoderate days I would beryllium waking and I'd person to hop connected 2 to 3 interrogation calls with quality outlets… past get ready, spell to signifier spell to lift… get pulled into meetings with my coaches astir however I'm conscionable specified a unspeakable idiosyncratic and each of these things, and past spell consecutive from that close backmost into interviews," she said. 

But erstwhile the play and semester ended, her parents saw the carnal interaction the concern took connected her, and demanded she travel location to Texas. 

"As soon arsenic the play was over, she came location for Christmas, and we were like, 'you're not going back,'" her father, Paul Slusser, told Fox News Digital. He told his daughter, "'You tin spell get your worldly adjacent summertime erstwhile your lease is up, and enactment here.'

TRACK STAR WHO PROTESTED TRANS ATHLETE ALLEGES SHE WASN'T GIVEN HER MEDAL FOR MONTHS UNTIL SHE FILED A LAWSUIT

Former SJSU volleyball prima Brooke Slusser and her parents Paul and Kim Slusser astatine a crippled connected Sept. 8, which Kim claims is "the past fond representation we person of her playing." (Courtesy of Kim Slusser)

The begetter was peculiarly acrophobic astir the mode the media was portraying his daughter, and however that influenced her peers' cognition of her. 

"She was the enemy. The quality vilified her. All the media outlets vilified her. And the students were speechmaking that benignant of worldly astir her." 

Her mother, Kim Slusser, said she was "devastated" erstwhile she saw her daughter's carnal authorities past Christmas. 

"When I recovered retired however atrocious everything truly was and truly saw her astatine Christmas clip erstwhile she came location … I was devastated. I couldn't sleep. I was having nightmares," Kim Slusser said. 

Brooke herself besides began to person recurring nightmares erstwhile she moved backmost into her parents' house.

In 1 dream, Brooke envisioned herself backmost astatine signifier successful the San Jose State gymnasium, and past getting called a backstage gathering caput manager Todd Kress.

"I woke up sobbing successful the mediate of the night," she said.

"I decidedly struggled a batch with my slumber and being capable to autumn dormant and enactment dormant during the night. I was taking melatonin to assistance maine sleep. At that time, I was lone getting 2 to 4 hours of slumber per night."

Once wintertime interruption was over, and what was expected to beryllium her last semester began, Brooke attempted to implicit her people online. 

Her parents said she began online classes, but dropped them soon later. As a Division I assistance athlete, dropping the classes resulted successful her losing the scholarship, and her household had to wage for the afloat semester's worthy of tuition retired of pocket, and her housing. 

"We had to pay, fundamentally her owe and her flat for the remainder of the semester. So it was a beauteous ample fiscal load connected america erstwhile that happened," Paul Slusser said. 

EX-SJSU VOLLEYBALL COACH OPENS UP ON LAWSUIT AFTER LOSING JOB AMID TRANS ATHLETE SCANDAL

The household volition person to wage retired of pouch again for further tuition, arsenic Brooke inactive hasn't finished her degree. She is nary longer an SJSU student, and volition decorativeness her acquisition astatine different school. 

A erstwhile assistance athlete, Slusser antecedently imagined that, astatine that constituent successful her life, she would person a grade and a licence successful dietetics, preparing to commencement her ain concern successful the dietetics field.  

But instead, she had to absorption connected self-repair. 

The household claims they didn't consult immoderate doctors and the girl didn't usage immoderate medicine, but the melatonin for slumber help. 

"My family, and truthful bash I, we don't truly judge connected leaning connected medicine for those benignant of things," Brooke said. "The crushed I was capable to heal from everything is due to the fact that of God."

In 1 of her last Sundays astatine San Jose past fall, she randomly decided to spell to religion connected a Sunday, conscionable due to the fact that she wanted to get retired of the house. 

"I conscionable broke down successful tears during worship, and that was the time that I decided to springiness my beingness backmost to Christ," Slusser said.

She started going to religion much erstwhile she was backmost home, past got officially baptized successful the last week of June. This past summer, she besides moved to North Carolina, and is moving arsenic a younker girls' volleyball coach. 

Kim Slusser said her girl besides formed a romanticist narration with a feline she went to precocious school, which has besides helped her recovery.

"He was a precocious schoolhouse friend, and present they're dating, and helium was idiosyncratic she leaned connected during the hard times astatine San Jose," Kim Slusser said. 

By this Thanksgiving, Slusser and her parents accidental she has recovered physically and mentally from the situation, arsenic they navigate the completion of her assemblage degree. 

"She conscionable got backmost successful her comfortableness zone, the value came backmost on, she went backmost to her comfortableness zone, got her play back," Paul Slusser said.

None of the carnal and intelligence harm implicit the past twelvemonth has deterred Brooke from warring successful the nationalist struggle to "save women's sports."

She is simply a plaintiff successful 2 Title IX lawsuits, citing her acquisition astatine SJSU, including Riley Gaines' suit against the NCAA, which partially precocious past motions to disregard successful September. Slusser is the person of a suit against the Mountain West and representatives of SJSU on with 10 different existent and erstwhile women's volleyball players. 

SJSU diversion manager Jeff Konya answered Fox News Digital successful July connected whether helium is "satisfied" with however the assemblage handled the contention involving Flemming and Slusser successful 2024. 

"I deliberation everybody acted successful the champion imaginable mode they could, fixed the circumstances," Konya said. 

President Donald Trump's Department of Education (ED) is successful the midst of an probe against the assemblage for its handling. The section launched the probe connected Feb. 6, simultaneous with a akin probe against the University of Pennsylvania implicit its handling of the incidental involving trans swimmer Lia Thomas successful 2022. 

ED came to a solution with UPenn implicit that contented connected July 1. U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon told Fox News Digital that time that the department's probe into SJSU "will continue." 

Slusser is anxious to spot the imaginable result of that investigation, and its impacts connected the assemblage officials that oversaw the concern she was progressive successful astatine San Jose State.

"Those radical request to person immoderate consequences," Slusser said.

What astir Blaire?

Blaire Fleming of the San Jose State Spartans looks connected during the 3rd acceptable against the Air Force Falcons astatine Falcon Court astatine East Gym connected Oct. 19, 2024 successful Colorado Springs, Colorado.  (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)

Fleming has been seldom progressive connected societal media successful the past year. The jock posted an Instagram communicative appearing to observe graduation from SJSU successful May, and has made 2 posts appearing to amusement exotic vacations. 

In a New York Times Magazine illustration portion successful April, Fleming admitted to feeling "suicidal," saying the play was "the darkest clip successful my life."

Slusser told Fox News Digital of Fleming's suicidal thoughts, "If that's what [Fleming] was going through, that's terrible."

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The outlet besides reported that Fleming often received hateful oregon threatening messages, cried "almost each night."

Fleming is not named arsenic a suspect successful immoderate of Slusser's lawsuits. Fox News Digital has reached retired to Fleming to petition an interrogation and for a nonstop effect to Slusser's statements. 

Fox News Digital has reached retired to SJSU for a response. 

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