Women’s basketball players have opened up about alleged harassment and misconduct from their head coach, Wayman Strickland.
Disclaimer: Six athletes were interviewed about these events and have all requested to remain anonymous in fear of repercussions. All quotations are from these interviews. 
An internal investigation has been initiated concerning the CSUS women’s basketball team. Players on the women’s basketball team have started to come forward about their experiences with head coach Wayman Strickland.
Many of the players were removed from the team following their reports to the athletic administrators, though it is not confirmed that their reports were the cause of their removal. Now only five of the original sixteen players remain on the team. 
Specific claims include misuse of program allocated money, NCAA violations concerning verbal abuse, threats and repeatedly ignoring player requests to stop initiating uncomfortable forms of physical contact during training sessions. 
One player says, “We would ask the coaches to provide us with more food money because most days I never had enough money to get a meal that was going to fill me up with the right amount of nutrients for the games.”
Another says, “Coach Strickland has consistently failed to adhere to NCAA rules and guidelines.”
Additionally, there have been instances where the financial burden, such as voluntary coaching expenses, has been unfairly shifted onto the players during competition trips.
Other athletes state that allegedly Strickland was going over the NCAA regulated hours during preseason. The players felt that they were even neglecting food after losses and would allegedly have to go 8 or more hours without a meal. One player states that they allegedly almost went 24 hours without a meal during a travel day. 
One athlete explains what they experienced, “Inconsistent money limits for food, withholding portions of per diem, suspicion of pocketing money intended for the team, and witnessing Coach Strickland putting volunteer coach’s expenses on the players’ tab.” 
The allegations against Wayman Strickland include counts of mental abuse, a toxic program environment, numerous NCAA violations and crossing physical boundaries with the players. 
One player says, “Coach Strickland has repeatedly called me out in front of the entire team, creating an uncomfortable and humiliating environment. This has occurred on numerous occasions in the past where I was singled out in the locker room during halftimes of games and in front of my team.” 
Allegations of verbal harassment towards the players have also been reported. The reports of verbal harassment included Strickland commenting on his athlete’s physical appearances throughout the season and even rating their appearance on a number scale.
A couple players share their experience on the extent of their humiliation in front of the women’s basketball team as a whole.
One player says, “The first comment he made was regarding my skin color, saying that I am ‘soft because I am light-skinned.’ The second comment was about my appearance, saying that I am a ‘7 with a bun and an 11 with a ponytail.’ Both comments were followed by laughter, as if they were meant to be funny. However, instead of finding them amusing, I felt embarrassed and even more uncomfortable knowing that my coach was making such remarks about me.”
Another player shares their experience on how they were rated on their physical appearance.
“My rating would be higher or lower based on what hairstyle I had or whether I had eyelash extensions on that day or not,” she said, “It was extremely uncomfortable and inappropriate. I also have verbally expressed how uncomfortable I felt and it continued. It also continued with other players as well.”
Along with these remarks Strickland also allegedly said “I don’t recruit ugly people” in front of his athletes during their media day when they were getting their pictures taken and looking their best.
The player who provided this information said they were disgusted and made extremely uncomfortable by this statement.
Physical harassment was claimed to also be a problem. A player spoke about how Strickland allegedly grabbed her waist, lower back and stomach during demonstrations. 
“I have repeatedly expressed how uncomfortable I was and requested him to stop yet he still continued,” she says.
The athletes say they filed their first complaint to administration in November of 2023. One player shared that she tried to express her feelings with Strickland one-on-one and he disregarded her feelings. After this interaction she reported this to the athletic counselors.
She was later on humiliated in front of her team for commenting on wanting more play time. The next day she was told to leave the team due to her “negative energy”.
After multiple pleas to the Athletic Department she was reinstated on to the team after 13 days. The rest of the season took a toll on her mental health. 
The pressures from this season have taken a toll on the mental health of the athletes on this team. With players feeling singled out, scared to speak out and verbally harassed, many players have taken the steps to seek help for their mental health now that the season has come to an end.
One athlete says, “I have been going to therapy now because of how he has been treating us. I never believed in depression or therapy until I played for Strickland, and I have never attended therapy or had depression before this either. Since being cut my depression has gotten worse knowing I will never play the game I love with my teammates again.”
“Coach Strickland has singled me out both this year and, in the past, affecting my emotional and psychological well-being. I have attempted to discuss my concerns one-on-one with Coach Strickland, but he dismisses me and makes me feel harassed and threatened, often implying that my academics or scholarship may be at risk,” another player said. 
“My time at Stan State has been traumatic, to say the least. I have endured so much mental abuse and neglect,” said one of the athletes, “This year has been the hardest year for me mentally. I experienced depression and anxiety at the hands of the Stan State basketball program. I started seeing a therapist just to have someone other than my immediate family and friends that could hear me and listen to how I was feeling. None of my coaches cared let alone check up on me to see how I was doing mentally.” 
The way Coach Strickland allegedly treats and communicates with his team has put him in a different light with his athletes. A player talks about how Strickland’s behavior affected how she perceived him.
“The best way to describe Wayman Strickland is a man with a God complex. Strickland has said verbatim ‘It does not matter to me if we win or lose because at the end of the day I am still getting a check.’ This quote perfectly exhibits the type of coach he is. He often will put us down, but always reminding us we would not be at Stan without him,” she says. 
With the team starting to stand up to their coach they feel that there have been repercussions. On March 18th, team cuts were made. Allegedly, a majority of the cuts included athletes that had negative experiences with Strickland without any real explanation.
One player says, “During my 3 minute meeting, there was not a valid reason given for why I was being cut. The only reason given was ‘He is going in a different direction and wants a smaller team for next year.'”
Many athletes stated how there was a lack of eye contact and respect during their cuts. 
An athlete says, “During my exit meeting, he could barely look me in the eye, he was too busy reading his speech off of the screen. I feel like I was wrongfully cut from this team. It feels like I was kicked down even more when I was already at my lowest.”
A different athlete also experienced the same behavior. 
These allegations have been brought to the CSU’s attention and have not been handled the way the athletes would have liked it. There has been a lot of waiting and wondering if anything will be done to help support Stan State’s athletes. 
One athlete says, “I would like my school to investigate things on a deeper level, and have some empathy towards our situation and how some people are feeling miserable yet, no actions have been taken. I would like them to hear us and our information and use other witnesses to make a knowledgeable decision on his deserving to be a women’s basketball coach.”
Allegedly, there was a supervisor to monitor and investigate the women’s basketball practices and games.
An athlete says, “It seems like the Athletic Department has only done the minimum in addressing our concerns. Many of us feel uncomfortable practicing with Coach Strickland and find it draining. They’ve assigned a ‘babysitter’ to monitor his behavior during practices, but we’ve received no updates on the investigation’s progress.”
With all of these tense and alarming allegations the athletes affected have found a way to stick together and support one another. 
“As a team, we have tried our best to stick together as it often feels like it is the coaching staff versus us. We enjoy each other’s company and often have felt like our coach has tried to create rifts between us. However, we do our best to not allow him to do so and we have a good connection amongst each other,” an athlete says. 
As for what the next steps should be for this situation, these athletes have a similar idea in mind. 
One player says, “Once a student filed a complaint, they should provide proper acknowledgment of the complaint and communicate with athletes to ensure they are protected from the ongoing verbal abuse and harassment.” 
“It’s disheartening to feel unsupported by the staff who are meant to be our support system,” said another player. “I hope the school prioritizes what’s best for the team. If faculty genuinely care about their students’ well-being, they should consult us before reaching a final decision. We’ve voiced our concerns, and I hope they take them seriously, considering all we’ve been through.”
The Signal reached out to President Susan E. Borrego, Coach Wayman Strickland and the CSU’s Athletic Department for further information and only the Athletic Department responded back. 
Aaron Allarie, Director of Athletics stated, “Your inquiry was referred to the Title IX office. We take allegations and the well-being of our campus community very seriously.  To preserve the integrity of the Title IX process, we are unable to comment at this time.”
These athletes aim to share their experiences to raise awareness about challenges that many others may also face.
They’ve highlighted issues such as inadequate sustenance and per diem usage, unsafe travel conditions, falsified workout documentation leading to injury risks, gender-based misconduct, insufficient mental health support from coaches, bullying, threats for questioning policy violations, and lack of physical boundaries.
By bringing these concerns to CSU’s attention, they seek positive changes within the program.