GRAMBLING STATE UNIVERSITY'S NEWLY-HIRED HEAD VOLLEYBALL COACH CUT EVERY PLAYER FROM THE TEAM
A collegiate volleyball coach cut an entire team of players in an unprecedented move.
According to KSLA, Grambling State University's recently hired head volleyball coach made a roster adjustment that took everyone off guard, especially the athletes. She cut all 19 current volleyball players after informing the administration that she would be making changes.
Chelsey Lucas, the new head volleyball coach at Grambling State University, was hired in February to lead the squad. On April 4, she notified each of the 19 participants individually.
“The decision, it’s her decision to make, and she’s got some quality players coming on board. I think 14 or 15 coming on board at some point, so in terms of things, I hate to say out with the old, but in with the new a little bit,” GSU Athletics Communications Director Brian Howard said.
“Obviously, we don’t want them to be cut or lose their scholarships or whatever that might be or whatever that might look like. At the end of the day, Coach Lucas has a goal, has a vision. We have a goal as an institution and a vision as well to win and that’s first and foremost.”
Lucas, a 2007 Grambling graduate, spent six seasons at two additional Southwestern Athletic Conference teams, according to Sports Illustrated. Alcorn State University and the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff. She was the head coach at UAPB for three years, compiling a 37–44 overall record and a 37–17 conference record. She was the head coach at Alcorn State for three seasons from 2016 to 2018, before coming to UAPB.
“Just as the transfer portal empowers student-athletes,” Grambling State athletic director Trayveon Scott said in a written statement, “our coaches are also empowered to make the decisions they deem necessary to advance their programs.”
Maurisa Harris, a junior at Grambling, was one among the athletes who had something to say about the relocation.
“She said that we weren’t able to practice much, which we weren’t and she said based off of that, she was not able to renew my scholarship, so I didn’t really get any time to show what I could do. When I was in there and she told me, my heart completely broke. Of course, and 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,” Harris said.
