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EXCLUSIVE: Former San Jose State University volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser is eight months removed from her final season, which included a conference investigation into an alleged plan to harm her by former teammate Blaire Fleming — a biologically male transgender athlete.
Slusser has now come forward with new allegations related to the matter.
Fox News Digital interviewed San Jose State athletic director Jeff Konya to inquire about Slusser’s claims and other details of the investigation. But Konya stood up after just around five minutes of related questions and walked away, saying “I’m done.”
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Slusser previously alleged in a lawsuit, signed by 10 other current or former women’s college volleyball players against the Mountain West and representatives of SJSU, that Fleming and other teammates snuck out the team hotel the night before an Oct. 3 game against Colorado State and met with an opposing player.
The lawsuit alleged a teammate who snuck out with Fleming later told players and coaches of an alleged plan by Fleming, in a conspiracy with the Colorado State player, to have Slusser spiked in the face during a match.
The lawsuit and complaint alleged the players who snuck out told other players and coaches they saw Fleming also hand over an SJSU scouting report with an agreement to throw the match in Colorado State’s favor.
In November, the Mountain West Conference launched an investigation into the allegations but concluded “sufficient evidence” could not be found.
Slusser now claims she had a conversation with a teammate who was interviewed as part of the conference’s investigation into Fleming’s alleged plan. Fox News Digital is not disclosing the identity of the teammate.
“Based on what I was told, exactly what one of my teammates had seen go on that night — about talking about the scouting report and leaving the net open — was told to those lawyers. So, that should have been sufficient evidence [of the alleged plan by Fleming],” Slusser told Fox News Digital, adding she wants to see the investigation reopened.
“People are telling you this happened, and it’s not second-hand information. She sat there and heard the conversation between Blaire and [former Colorado State volleyball player] Malaya [Jones]. So, to me, just from what I know without even having to dig deep into this investigation, there is sufficient evidence, and they were told sufficient evidence.”
Fox News Digital cannot independently verify that Slusser’s teammate corroborated the allegations against Fleming when speaking to investigators.
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 Oct. 19, 2024, in Colorado Springs, Colo. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital played a video clip of Slusser reciting these allegations for Konya at Mountain West media days July 15.
“I have no idea if she’s telling the truth or not,” Konya said of Slusser’s claims.
Konya could not confirm or deny whether any of the witnesses interviewed corroborated the allegations against Fleming.
“I have no idea,” Konya said.
Public records obtained by Fox News Digital show Konya sent emails to help set up interviews with at least six witnesses for the November investigation. Konya said he was not made privy to any of the information shared in interviews.
When asked if he was satisfied with the “accuracy and thoroughness” of the investigation, Konya said, “Yeah, I believe it was done professionally.”
The Mountain West announced the investigation had closed without finding “sufficient evidence” and that no discipline was “necessary” in a Nov. 15 letter obtained by Fox News Digital. That letter and the emails coordinating interviews for the investigation, obtained by Fox News Digital, repeatedly incorrectly stated the game took place Oct. 2.
Konya said he was not aware that the incorrect date had repeatedly been used.
However, in Konya’s emails setting up interviews with witnesses, he consistently referenced the incorrect Oct. 2 date for the game, and never cited the correct Oct. 3 date.
The Nov. 15 letter announcing the investigation had closed without sufficient evidence was sent just three days after the first emails to set up interviews with witnesses were sent.
When asked if he believed this was enough time to carry out a thorough investigation, Konya said, “I’m not going to answer anymore of these questions. I haven’t had the sufficient details to answer these questions.”
Slusser said she sustained a concussion her junior year in 2023 and looked to avoid hits to the head out of fear of permanent brain damage.
Konya said he was not aware of this either.
When asked if he was satisfied with how the university handled the controversy involving Fleming in 2024, Konya said, “I think everybody acted in the best possible way they could, given the circumstances.”
The Mountain West hired the same law firm to carry out the investigation that was hired to defend the conference against Slusser’s claims
Fox News Digital reported in June that the law firm hired by the Mountain West Conference to carry out the investigation into Fleming’s allegations, Willkie Farr & Gallagher (WFG), was the same law firm that represented the conference against a request for a preliminary injunction to keep Fleming eligible for the women’s volleyball season and postseason. The request was filed by Slusser and the 10 other former and current Mountain West players and the University of Utah.
The investigation and legal battle took place in the same month, November 2024.
Now, Fox News Digital has obtained a court document that shows WFG not only defended the Mountain West against Slusser’s request for a preliminary injunction, but the firm is also defending the conference against Slusser’s lawsuit, according to a Jan. 25 motion to dismiss. The document was signed by multiple WFG attorneys.
That means WFG is defending the conference against a lawsuit that includes the very allegations against Fleming, which the law firm cleared in November.
Emails obtained by Fox News Digital show the lead WFG attorney for the Mountain West Conference in the Fleming investigation, Tim Heaphy, coordinated with Konya and SJSU and California State University legal counsel Dustin May to set up interviews with at least six witnesses in November. SJSU head volleyball coach Todd Kress was one of the witnesses. The identities of the other witnesses were redacted.
Slusser and former SJSU assistant volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose told Fox News Digital they declined to be interviewed for the investigation.
Kevin Marino, attorney for Bill Stepien, the former manager of Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign, left, speaks to Tim Heaphy, chief investigative counsel for the select committee, during a hearing of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., June 13, 2022. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital has asked May, Heaphy and Mountain West representatives multiple times if any of the witnesses who were interviewed corroborated the allegations against Fleming but has not received a response.
WFG later deleted a Nov. 27 online press release from its website that announced the legal victory to keep Fleming eligible. The page is still viewable via an online archive. Fox News Digital has asked WFG multiple times why the page was deleted but has not gotten a response.
Then, on Feb. 6, Heaphy reached back out to May, offering legal counsel in navigating a federal Title IX investigation into the situation involving the trans athlete, as seen in emails obtained by Fox News Digital. May responded on Feb. 18, declining Heaphy’s offer. Heaphy responded the next day, writing, “Please let me know if we can help in any way on this or other issues.”
Slusser and her family have been emotionally affected and have lingering fears from the situation
Slusser was never hit in the head during the Oct. 3 game. But she recalled moments in the game that raised suspicion before she even knew about the allegations against Fleming.
“There was a lot of court open, more than usual, when it came to where I was supposed to be playing defense,” Slusser said. “After finding out that it was [allegedly] purposeful, that the block wasn’t there, I was enraged, because … it could take one more slam to my head, and I could be done with volleyball forever.”
Fleming had 10 errors in the game as SJSU lost in straight sets.
Batie-Smoose previously told Fox News Digital she recalled Fleming refusing to follow orders during the game. She also recalled a moment at the end of the first set.
“Close to the end of that set was when [Fleming] overpassed a serve right on top of the net for Malayla to hit toward Brooke Slusser, and then those two were kind of always doing eye contact and making smirks up to that point. But then, when that happened, they both laughed, and [Fleming] said, ‘Thank you,’ and that’s when Blaire blew her a kiss,” Batie-Smoose alleged.
Slusser alleged in her lawsuit against the Mountain West that, the night before the Oct. 3 game, one of her teammates approached her with a warning after the teammate received a text message. Slusser previously told Fox News Digital of this incident in October, before the allegations against Fleming came to light.
“One of my teammates got a DM, basically saying that she, and then my team, needed to keep [their] distance from me on game day against Colorado State, because it wasn’t going to be a good situation for me to be in and that my team needed to keep their distance,” Slusser alleged.
It is unclear whether that warning stemmed from Fleming’s alleged plan to have Slusser spiked in the face.
Slusser’s parents, Paul and Kim Slusser, told Fox News Digital they traveled to Colorado State for the Oct. 3 game and sat in a row in front of Fleming’s mother.
Former San Jose State University women’s volleyball star Brooke Slusser with her parents, Paul and Kim Slusser. (Courtesy of Kim Slusser)
Slusser reflected on the emotional toll on her and her family after witnessing how the investigation was carried out. She claims she didn’t feel safe.
“I really wasn’t safe with anyone at the school or even the people that they would hire to come in and help,” Slusser said of her experience with the university and volleyball program. “It was hard for my parents to handle. The fact that they’re all the way in Texas, and they couldn’t be there for me every single day was hard.”
Fox News Digital could not independently verify that Slusser’s safety was ever at risk while at SJSU.
Paul Slusser said he was “disappointed” with the nature and outcome of the investigation.
“It was very disappointing because we thought like, ‘Oh my God, maybe something positive will come of this and shine some light on what’s actually going on,'” he said.
Police protection persisted at SJSU games throughout the season after the Oct. 3 game, after the situation involving Fleming and Slusser drew national attention, all against the backdrop of a heated election season.
The wave of attention first started shortly after Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit, led by Riley Gaines and funded by the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) against the NCAA in September. In November, Slusser filed her lawsuit, funded by ICONS, alongside Batie-Smoose and 10 other Mountain West players against San Jose State and the Mountain West.
Slusser has alleged university officials hid knowledge of Fleming’s birth sex from her while allegedly frequently pairing the two in the same bedroom on overnight trips.
“I’m openly changing in front of this person, thinking that it’s a woman, and … I could have had the chance to take myself out of that situation and at least go to a different room and request to be switched to another room and didn’t,” she said. “So, I got that opportunity of my choice to be taken away from me.”
Slusser said after she joined the first lawsuit in September, interactions with Fleming turned hostile.
“After I joined the lawsuit, Blaire did not like me whatsoever. There was a time where Blaire said, ‘I never want to speak to you again.’ And I said, ‘OK, that’s fine,'” Slusser said. “I just knew there was hatred toward me from Blaire.”
Slusser also claimed communication with Fleming during games changed after she joined the lawsuit.
“There was a point where Blaire would not touch me, wouldn’t look at me, speak to me for a while until the coaches were like, ‘Get your crap together, we’re trying to play here,'” Slusser said.
The on-court cooperation between Slusser and Fleming continued amid the tension all the way to the Mountain West Tournament championship match in Las Vegas Nov. 30, when SJSU lost to Colorado State, the same opponent with which Fleming was accused of conspiring.
For Fleming and Slusser, it was their last game of NCAA women’s volleyball eligibility.
Slusser abandoned the SJSU campus and returned to her family’s home in Texas shortly after the start of the 2025 spring semester. She previously said she faced constant harassment and threats from students who disagreed with her stance against Fleming. So, she went home and finished her degree online. Paul Slusser also said the coverage by California media outlets played into her decision to abandon the campus.
“I didn’t realize how much it had affected her. It really was shocking to me when she came home. She was not herself at all. She was a shell of herself,” Kim Slusser said. “It was very traumatizing to her.”
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Kim Slusser provided a photo to Fox News Digital of the family at a game Sept. 8, saying, “Honestly, this was the last fond memory we have of her playing and (the) last game we wore San Jose gear.”
Former SJSU volleyball star Brooke Slusser and parents Paul and Kim Slusser at a game Sept. 8, which Kim claims is “the last fond memory we have of her playing.” (Courtesy of Kim Slusser)
Slusser made an attempt to return to play one season of beach volleyball in the NCAA, which she had a year of eligibility for, entering the transfer portal this past spring around the time of her graduation from SJSU.
But after communicating with several Division I coaches about potential offers, she pulled herself out of the transfer portal and abandoned the idea.
Slusser said she came to the decision after praying.
However, Slusser also cited concern about her well-being and potential retaliation for her beliefs and public profile, citing her experience with SJSU, Fleming and the controversial investigation into the trans athlete’s alleged plan to harm her.
“I could have gotten there and could have had a lot of retaliation from just students or staff or the athletes even, and I didn’t know if that was something I could handle going through again,” Slusser said, adding she had no faith “at all” she would be protected in the event of retaliation.
“I was never shown that at an institution I thought I could trust … so I could really trust no one. … There was a lot of fears going through that transfer process.”
Slusser’s parents said the experience motivated her to become more devoted to Christianity, and she got baptized in the final week of June.
Slusser has since relocated to North Carolina to begin her adult, post-college life. But she is still involved in her legal battles against the NCAA, Mountain West and representatives of San Jose State.
The ongoing legal battle and federal investigation remains unsettled; Mountain West has made questionable claims
Slusser’s attorney, William Bock, filed a response to motions to dismiss one of the cases June 23. The response made mention of the allegations against Fleming to harm Slusser. Bock has provided a statement to Fox News Digital addressing the revelations of the Mountain West hiring WFG to conduct the investigation into the allegations against Fleming.
“It is outrageous, improper and deceptive that the MWC hired the same law firm to both conduct a supposedly independent investigation of its member SJSU and defend the MWC in a federal lawsuit,” Bock said.
“Hiring WFG to perform such conflicted and mutually exclusive roles suggests that Commissioner Nevarez and the MWC had no interest in discovering the truth. Instead, the MWC has long been focused solely upon advancing the interests of SJSU and pushing the narrative that men should be allowed in women’s college sports locker rooms and showers and to compete against women in college sports.”
None of WFG’s attorneys have been accused of violating any applicable rules of professional conduct.
Fox News Digital asked Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez at her Mountain West Media Days press conference why the conference hired WFG to both conduct the investigation into Fleming and defend the athlete’s eligibility in court and if there was any concern about a conflict of interest.
Nevarez responded, “Well, that is a question concerning active litigation, so I’m not going to comment on ongoing litigation. But the statement that the same law firm represented the school in defending the player is incorrect.”
Fox News Digital did not insinuate in its question nor has it ever reported that the law firm represented San Jose State.
The Mountain West later provided a statement to Fox News Digital that claimed Nevarez “believed” the initial question was asking about the law firm representing SJSU.
“Commissioner Nevarez believed you were asking about our law firm, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, representing both the Mountain West and San Jose State. It was clarified that you were asking about a potential conflict of interest with the lawsuit related to a conference policy and the match investigation,” the statement said.
The statement also claimed that WFG did not defend Fleming’s eligibility in the November legal dispute. However, multiple documents and the law firm’s own announcement suggest otherwise.
“To be clear, Willkie Farr & Gallagher is defending the Mountain West’s policy regarding forfeitures, not a student-athlete’s eligibility. Eligibility is determined by NCAA policy and the university, not the conference office. The investigation was focused on alleged player misconduct. The two matters in question are unrelated and thus there is no conflict of interest.”
Four conference opponents forfeited games against SJSU in 2024, and the status of the forfeited matches and the effect on conference seeding was challenged in the request for preliminary injunction. However, Fleming’s eligibility to continue the season and play in the conference was challenged as well as a key point.
WFG’s deleted Nov. 27 press release announcing the victory for the Mountain West against Slusser’s request for preliminary injunction noted the athlete’s right to play as the first issue in the dispute.
“Willkie secured a high-profile win for collegiate athletic conference Mountain West Conference in a suit brought by members of San Jose State University’s women’s volleyball team and other Mountain West teams that played against SJSU. The suit sought to (i) prohibit a transgender woman on the SJSU team from competing in the MWC’s Championship,” the press release said.
“Plaintiffs sought an order preliminarily (i) blocking the player at issue from playing in any remaining matches this season.”
The WFG attorneys who represented the Mountain West argued against the request for a preliminary injunction and made no clear distinction to challenge the plaintiffs’ request to have Fleming ruled ineligible.
“Preliminary injunctions are an extraordinary remedy only granted in true emergencies. The moving plaintiffs should not be granted such an extraordinary remedy based on the fabricated sense of urgency created by their decision to hold onto their grievances until the eve of this year’s conference tournament,” the Mountain West’s response brief to Slusser’s request for preliminary injunction said.
Slusser and the other plaintiffs argued in the proceedings that “Fleming has been continuously ineligible to play women’s volleyball pursuant to Title IX as Fleming’s sex is male and is therefore ineligible to play in, and should not be permitted by the MWC to play in, the MWC women’s volleyball tournament.”
The lead attorney who represented the Mountain West in November, Wesley R. Powell, repeatedly insisted that the Mountain West is not subject to Title IX, according to transcripts of the November hearing obtained by Fox News Digital.
“Our position is that we’re simply not subject to Title IX,” Powell said during the status conference. “To be subject to Title IX, we would have to be recipients of federal government support, and the conference is not a recipient of any such support. And, so, from our perspective, all of the details, the expert testimony, you know, virtually everything that has been put into the record is ultimately irrelevant to us.”
San Jose State is under an ongoing Title IX investigation by the U.S. Department of Education over Fleming being permitted to compete on the women’s volleyball team from 2022 to 2024.
The Department of Education recently reached an agreement with the University of Pennsylvania after a federal probe into a 2022 incident involving former UPenn trans swimmer Lia Thomas. The university agreed to apologize to all the female athletes who had to compete with and share a locker room with Thomas in the 2021-22 season and has agreed to rescind all of Thomas’ program records.
With the UPenn situation resolved, U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon will continue working to address the SJSU investigation.
“Our investigation will continue,” McMahon told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Mountain West, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, San Jose State University, Kress, Colorado State University and Jones’ current school, Southern Methodist University (SMU), for a response to all reported findings and the allegations by the Slusser family and Batie-Smoose. Jones transferred to SMU after the end of last season.
When asked if the Mountain West will disclose any evidence from the investigation, particularly if any of the witnesses interviewed corroborated the allegations against Fleming, the conference declined.
“With litigation ongoing, the Mountain West will have no further comment,” a conference spokesperson said.
San Jose State has declined to respond to Slusser’s claims as well.
“Due to ongoing litigation and federal investigation, we are unable to respond to your inquiry,” a university spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital has attempted to reach Fleming via social media for comment.
No response has been provided by the other parties.
May’s office initially responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment after providing the public records, requesting a list of questions and background information be provided before speaking. Fox News Digital did not provide the information or list of comments and requested a virtual or phone interview.
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May’s office then responded with a statement, saying, “Any speculation that the firm or attorney mentioned in your inquiry represented SJSU or the CSU is unfounded.” Fox News Digital had not posed that question or any other stipulation, only an interview request, at that point.
Fox News Digital later followed up with May’s office requesting an interview to address other questions and fulfilled his office’s request to provide background information on what would be discussed.
May’s office responded, saying, “He will not be available,” and has not responded to requests for further comment.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.
