By: Benjamin Wang
Chelsey Lucas was fired just three months after being hired as the women’s volleyball coach at Grambling State University in Louisiana. Lucas graduated from Grambling State in 2007 as a star player for the Tigers and was hired as head coach on February 14, 2022. She was fired three months later, on July 8, after cutting all 19 players from the team.
Reports say that tension had been building between Lucas and the team, as she had previously coached for the Arkansas Pine Bluff, who lost to Grambling State in a recent match.
Sheila Borders, a senior at Grambling, said, “When we played them at home and we beat them, our school has like this chant, but at the end of the chant you say, like, the B-word. I guess she thought I was calling them B-words, but, like, the whole school says it. They say it at basketball games and football games. It’s nothing personal.”
During the first time meeting the Grambling State team, Lucas evidently said, “I bet you didn’t expect to see me again. I bet y’all will think twice about who y’all call a b—-.”
Rumors emerged that some players from Arkansas Pine Bluff would be transferring to Grambling State, and Borders’ mother confirmed that many athletes from Arkansas did indeed come over. On April 4, Lucas met with 12 scholarship players to inform them that their scholarships would not be renewed for the coming season and told seven players that their spots on the team would not be renewed.
At first, the Grambling administration supported the verdict, and athletic director Trayvean Scott stated, “Just as the transfer portal empowers student-athletes, our coaches are also empowered to make the decisions they deem necessary to advance their programs.”
The decision forced many Grambling State players to search for different programs, as some lacked the credits necessary to graduate.
Junior Maurisa Harris told KSLA News 12 that “When I was in there and she told me, my heart completely broke. … I didn’t cry in there, but I did when I left, and it just hurts really bad, the fact that it was snatched away so fast.”
As an attempt to get rid of Lucas and reinstitute the players’ scholarships, a petition on Change.org was started, and received over 3,700 signatures. Journalist Stephen A. Smith attracted more attention to the situation during a segment on ESPN. Lucas did not publicly comment after being fired and shot down any details regarding the situation.
Scott stated that “As we move forward in this transition and commence a national search for the next coach, all volleyball student-athletes who received scholarships for the 2022-23 academic year will keep their scholarships and remain on the team. Walk-ons will also continue to hold their roster spot.”