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EXCLUSIVE: Former San Jose State (SJSU) transgender volleyball player Blaire Fleming responded to Fox News Digital for the first time regarding allegations that emerged from the program’s 2024 scandal.
Fleming addressed recent allegations made by former assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose, who filed a lawsuit in September against the California State University (CSU) system, as SJSU is one of 23 California-based schools that are part of the system. Batie-Smoose told Fox News Digital that SJSU accommodated Fleming with special exceptions that were not granted to female athletes.
“Not showing up to practice with no excuses, sitting in the stands eating while practice was going on, those kind of things,” Batie-Smoose said of the special exceptions reserved exclusively for Fleming.
SJSU and CSU declined to respond to those allegations.
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Blaire Fleming of the San Jose State Spartans reacts during the second set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym on October 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
But Fleming responded to Batie-Smoose’s claim and addressed former teammate and co-captain Brooke Slusser.
“The only times I showed up to practice with ‘no excuse’ and sat in the stands was when I was injured and couldn’t play. Brooke Slusser and Melissa need to get a life,” Fleming told Fox News Digital.
Slusser, who played alongside Fleming for two seasons at SJSU from 2023-24, has joined a lawsuit and filed another citing her experience with the trans athlete. Slusser has also joined a lawsuit against the NCAA and filed her own against the Mountain West Conference and representatives of SJSU.
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Slusser’s lawsuits brought national attention to the program last year, as the team saw multiple opponents forfeit while her and Fleming were pitted as opposing figures in a major American culture war flashpoint.
The situation even garnered a response from President Donald Trump when he was on the campaign trail last October, calling out a moment when one of Fleming’s spikes hit an opposing San Diego State player during a game, during a Fox News Channel town hall with Harris Faulkner. Regular police protection was assigned to the team in September, and persisted throughout the season.
In addition to Slusser and Batie-Smoose’s lawsuit, SJSU is also currently under a federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for its handling of the situation last year. The investigation was launched in early February after Trump signed the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order.
The team saw a mass exodus of its players after the controversial season ended last December. At least seven of the team’s players with remaining eligibility entered the transfer portal.
This season, SJSU is off to a 6-7 start without Fleming, Slusser and those other transferred players.
Fleming’s college career ended on the final day of November last season, when SJSU lost to Colorado State in the Mountain West Tournament final in Las Vegas. SJSU was playing in the final because the opponent they were meant to face in the semi-final, Boise State, forfeited. Boise State had forfeited two regular season matchups to SJSU that season amid the controversy.
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Fleming and Slusser were both named 2024 all-conference honorable mentions, as they anchored one of the best offenses in the Mountain West amid the controversy last year.
The team finished the regular season with the third-best hitting percentage in the conference. Slusser finished with a top 10 individual hitting percentage in the conference, while Fleming was second in the conference in kills per set with a .386.
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)
Both players came to SJSU as transfers years earlier. Slusser transferred from the University of Alabama in 2023, while Fleming transferred from Coastal Carolina a year earlier.
Fleming was previously the centerpiece of the best volleyball team in John Champe High School (in Virginia) history with a historic 19-win season in 2019 – Fleming’s senior year. That year, Fleming was named first-team all-district and set the school’s single-season record for kills in a season with 266. Fleming set the school’s single-game record for kills with 30 against Battlefield High School in September of that year.
Meanwhile, Slusser, a Texas native and devout life-long Christian, earned the 2023 Prep Volleyball All-American honors, 2020 Under Armor All-American honors and All-Region, 2019 District Hitter of the Year honors and was named to the 2019 AVCA Phenom List for Denton Guyer High School and the Texas Advantage Volleyball club team.
Slusser alleged in her lawsuits that SJSU officials hid knowledge of Fleming’s birth sex from her while allegedly frequently pairing the two in the same bedroom on overnight trips. Slusser also alleged Fleming admitted to being a biological male in a conversation with Slusser over ice cream in April 2024.
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“Slusser asked why Fleming had not shared this information with her before, particularly as they had been living together. Fleming responded that there never seemed to be a good time to bring it up, and that he had been afraid that Slusser might not be his friend if Slusser knew the truth. Fleming also said that if Slusser was uncomfortable with it that Fleming would leave the volleyball team,” Slusser’s party wrote in court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
After the 2024 volleyball season, Slusser fled SJSU campus after frequent alleged harassment and threats by other students in response to her speaking out against Fleming and the program the previous Fall. She returned to her parents’ home in Texas to finish the school year remotely, and is now working as a youth volleyball coach in North Carolina.
Fleming celebrated graduation from SJSU in a social media post back in May. In a New York Times story in April, Fleming claimed to have been suicidal during the 2024 season.
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