SJSU Volleyball Player Reveals Disturbing Warning About Coach Amid Concealed Allegations

Clear Facts

• Former SJSU volleyball player Brooke Slusser was warned by parents in 2024 to never be alone with head coach Todd Kress after rumors surfaced about alleged 1998 attack on a former player
• SJSU received detailed letter in October 2024 alleging Kress physically attacked a Fairfield University player in a hotel room, but never informed current players
• While allegations against Kress remained uninvestigated, assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose was suspended and later terminated after filing Title IX complaint

During her final college volleyball season at San Jose State in 2024, Brooke Slusser says she received an alarming warning from those closest to her: never be alone with head coach Todd Kress.

Slusser’s parents had heard troubling rumors that Kress allegedly attacked one of his former players in a hotel room decades ago. What followed was a pattern of concealment by university administrators that raises serious questions about institutional priorities and student safety.

“I was told just to be safe and not be in a room alone with him when my parents found out about it … I didn’t know all of the information, so it was kind of scary when I was concerned when everyone was telling me, ‘We’re not gonna tell you everything that happened ’cause we don’t wanna scare you, but we’re telling you from here on out, you are not allowed to be alone in a room with Todd Kress,'” Slusser told Fox News Digital on Friday.

In October 2024, SJSU received a letter from one of Kress’s former players containing serious allegations. The letter detailed claims that in 1998, during Kress’s tenure at Fairfield University, he attacked her in a team hotel room following a tournament loss.

The allegations included claims that Kress “forcibly threw me on the bed,” then “pulled his pants down and put his back side in my face,” and then “picked me up, and threw me into the bathtub where he held me down and threatened to turn on the shower with me laying there.”

Despite receiving these serious allegations, university officials never informed Slusser or other players about the letter’s contents.

“The school gave us absolutely zero information. This was never brought up once. I think anyone would remember that. And even when the article had come out, I had a bunch of old teammates texting me asking me if this was true, if I knew anything else, those types of things. So they never brought this up once to anyone,” Slusser said.

She added that former teammates have confirmed they also were kept in the dark by university administrators.

During the 2024 season, after her parents learned of the rumors, they advised Slusser to bring former assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose or a teammate whenever entering a room with Kress.

“So basically, my parents just told me from there on, like, ‘Take Melissa with you if he drags you into a meeting,’ like he was doing every single day, or, ‘Take a teammate with you. Just do not be alone with him ’cause he can be aggressive,'” she said.

Email records show SJSU officials acknowledged receipt of the allegations in October 2024, thanked the former player for coming forward, and apologized for her experiences. Yet Kress has continued serving as head coach and recently posted on social media promoting his recruiting efforts.

The former Fairfield player sent her letter to SJSU on October 24, 2024. Just days later, Batie-Smoose was suspended after submitting a Title IX complaint. Her contract was not renewed in January, and she is now pursuing a wrongful termination lawsuit.

This contrast particularly troubles Slusser.

“I think that’s the part that bothers me the most, is that they’re gonna let go of Melissa, who was always there for us, protected us, cared for us, and then you’re gonna keep [Kress] on payroll,” Slusser said.

Slusser is separately suing the university and California State University system over her experience playing with a biological male teammate in 2023 and 2024. She now has a stark warning for current and prospective players.

“I would say beware… see the man that you just committed to playing for for the next four years. It’s not someone I would wanna send my daughter to play for or anyone that I know. I wouldn’t send my worst enemy to play for him,” Slusser said.

The former Fairfield player’s letter described arriving at Kress’s hotel room after the team’s loss to Clemson in the first round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament. A teammate had asked her to deliver a shirt.

“I told her I wanted no part of his insanity. I was distraught about the loss and wasn’t interested in his drunken insanity, which was commonplace on trips.”

Her teammate “promised Todd would not throw water at me or do something juvenile so I reluctantly agreed to bring her the shirt.”

“I knocked on the door and Todd answered. He immediately took caramel from a plastic container and smeared it all over my face and hair. He then forcibly threw me on the bed and held me down. I was in shock. He let go of me and then pulled his pants down and put his back side in my face.”

“Astonished… that is the only word I can think of to describe how I felt in that moment… Todd was drunk. I got up and went for the door.”

“Todd again grabbed me, picked me up, and threw me into the bathtub where he held me down and threatened to turn on the shower with me laying there to ‘clean the caramel off of my face.’ At this point I was fighting back to get away from him.”

“Todd let me get out of the tub, laughing, and then he stood in front of the door blocking my exit. Todd told me he would only let me leave if I took a shot of liquor, which I did only to get him to move away from the door. Once he did, I ran for it. He chased me. I got into my room and although he seemed to be in a rage, he turned and calmly walked out,” the letter alleges.

The former player stated her teammates “had been drinking with Todd underage.” She said she didn’t report the incident at the time because she “was scared of losing my scholarship and being the reason my teammates lost theirs.”

On November 4, 2024, former SJSU interim Title IX and Gender Equity Officer Peter Lim contacted the former Fairfield player to arrange a meeting with her and her attorney.

“Thank you for sharing your concerns about Coach Todd Kress. I am sorry to hear about your experiences. I have reviewed your letter and would like to meet with you to better understand your experiences with Coach Kress. The purpose of the meeting would be to help me assess potential next steps, which may or may not include an investigation into the reported conduct,” Lim wrote.

Three days later, on November 7, Lim sent another email thanking her for the meeting.

“I am so sorry about your prior experiences with Todd Kress at Fairfield University. I appreciate the time you took to describe those experiences, the impact those experiences continue to have on you, and the safety threat that you believe he presents to SJSU’s volleyball team,” Lim wrote.

“We are evaluating the information you provided and determining appropriate next steps. If it is okay with the two of you, I would appreciate staying in touch.”

There was no further correspondence between the parties after that exchange.

Kress continued leading the team through their loss in the conference championship that year. He remained in his position throughout 2025 as the team posted a losing record and missed the conference tournament entirely. In recent days, he has made multiple Instagram posts promoting his recruiting class.

On Wednesday, Kress shared a post about SJSU being a top-ranked university, adding his own caption: “That’s why we’re bringing in so many incredible future Spartans with our recruiting efforts!”

On Thursday, Kress posted a photo of himself with volleyball players, captioned “Nike All-Skills campt at SJSU is a wrap Thanks to all who attended and we hope you had a blast!”

Slusser previously stated that Kress recruited her in early 2023 and encouraged her to live with teammate Blaire Fleming without disclosing that Fleming was a biological male. She faced heightened tensions with Kress throughout that season.

“It goes to show their goal at the end of the day was literally just to hide everything they could,” Slusser added.

“They wanted it their way, and if you disagreed with them, then they were gonna make your life a living hell, basically. And I mean, that’s what they did to me. So this is a lot more than just a man in our safe spaces or on our team. It’s about the people that allowed it to happen… you can see we’re not going after Blaire. I am not trying to personally attack Blaire. This is about the people that allow it to happen.”

SJSU formally declined a public records request seeking copies of the email exchanges with Kress’s former player, stating “the requested communications implicate substantial privacy interests.”

Kress, SJSU officials, and the university’s legal counsel did not respond to requests for comment.

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