Grambling State University announced July 5th that they had fired first-year volleyball coach Chelsey Lucas after she had dropped all 19 players from the roster.
Grambling State, initially, had supported Lucas’s actions. However, after an internal investigation, they changed their decision and dismissed her.
The previous coach, Demetria Keys-Johnson, had stepped down in December of 2021 to take on a different job at the university. Lucas was hired February 14th to assume the role.
Practice sessions held after the team’s first meeting with Lucas reportedly consisted of “very few volleyball related drills and a lot of punishment-related running,” according to Monroe News-Star.
Lucas later held individual meetings with all 12 scholarship players informing them that their scholarships would not be renewed for the following season. She even asked four of the players whose scholarships she had just revoked to remain on the team as walk-ons, but all refused.
“She [Lucas] just was, like, I understand you were on scholarship. I’m looking for a new dynamic of the team and you don’t fit the dynamic,” junior middle blocker Semira Fields told Andscape reporters. “I couldn’t even say [anything] back to her because I was so shocked. Like, I had done everything she asked, but when she told me, I couldn’t even listen to her anymore. I sat back and thought, ‘Wow, like, I really have to find a way to pay for school.’ I have to tell my parents that I’m no longer on scholarship. My lifestyle is gonna change after a meeting [with Coach] that lasted maybe 2½ minutes. Grambling’s motto is, ‘A place where everybody’s somebody,’ Right now, I feel like a nobody.”
Rebellious players who had been removed from the volleyball program then started a Change.org petition acting to terminate Lucas’s job and to reinstate the players’ scholarships.
Lucas, however claimed that the school’s administration actually agreed heavily with her controversial decision and even told her to “get rid of ’em all.”
“There were girls that … I gave them reasons of why that you would no longer be a part of Grambling State University program, and there were young ladies, there were student-athletes, that I asked, ‘I want you to be a part of this program,’ ” she stated.
Grambling State Athletic Director Trayvean Scott has not made any claims except that he stands with the coach and her decisions.
Players are still figuring out their next move. Some have considered finishing their school year and college careers as normal students instead of volleyball players. Others have been rejected scholarships from other schools because there aren’t any available. So far, the investigation is continuing on about Lucas and Grambling State’s volleyball players.
Link to Article: Grambling State fires Chelsey Lucas, volleyball coach who cut entire team – The Washington Post.pdf
Other Sources: Dismissed Grambling State volleyball players still uncertain about their future (andscape.com)
Grambling State, initially, had supported Lucas’s actions. However, after an internal investigation, they changed their decision and dismissed her.
The previous coach, Demetria Keys-Johnson, had stepped down in December of 2021 to take on a different job at the university. Lucas was hired February 14th to assume the role.
Practice sessions held after the team’s first meeting with Lucas reportedly consisted of “very few volleyball related drills and a lot of punishment-related running,” according to Monroe News-Star.
Lucas later held individual meetings with all 12 scholarship players informing them that their scholarships would not be renewed for the following season. She even asked four of the players whose scholarships she had just revoked to remain on the team as walk-ons, but all refused.
“She [Lucas] just was, like, I understand you were on scholarship. I’m looking for a new dynamic of the team and you don’t fit the dynamic,” junior middle blocker Semira Fields told Andscape reporters. “I couldn’t even say [anything] back to her because I was so shocked. Like, I had done everything she asked, but when she told me, I couldn’t even listen to her anymore. I sat back and thought, ‘Wow, like, I really have to find a way to pay for school.’ I have to tell my parents that I’m no longer on scholarship. My lifestyle is gonna change after a meeting [with Coach] that lasted maybe 2½ minutes. Grambling’s motto is, ‘A place where everybody’s somebody,’ Right now, I feel like a nobody.”
Rebellious players who had been removed from the volleyball program then started a Change.org petition acting to terminate Lucas’s job and to reinstate the players’ scholarships.
Lucas, however claimed that the school’s administration actually agreed heavily with her controversial decision and even told her to “get rid of ’em all.”
“There were girls that … I gave them reasons of why that you would no longer be a part of Grambling State University program, and there were young ladies, there were student-athletes, that I asked, ‘I want you to be a part of this program,’ ” she stated.
Grambling State Athletic Director Trayvean Scott has not made any claims except that he stands with the coach and her decisions.
Players are still figuring out their next move. Some have considered finishing their school year and college careers as normal students instead of volleyball players. Others have been rejected scholarships from other schools because there aren’t any available. So far, the investigation is continuing on about Lucas and Grambling State’s volleyball players.
Link to Article: Grambling State fires Chelsey Lucas, volleyball coach who cut entire team – The Washington Post.pdf
Other Sources: Dismissed Grambling State volleyball players still uncertain about their future (andscape.com)
