• Loading stock data...
Saturday, August 30, 2025
The biggest names in sports media. All in one room. Get your ticket now!

Western Oregon Women’s Basketball Players File $28 Million Lawsuit Claiming Coach Abuse

Nine former players are suing the school, which they say didn’t take their claims seriously.

Western Oregon women's basketball players allege abuse.
Statesman Journal

Nine former Division II Western Oregon women’s basketball players are suing their coaches and school, alleging abuse they say they suffered in the program.

The players are seeking $28 million and additional punitive damages.

The 58-page lawsuit filed Wednesday in Marion County Circuit Court claims coach Jessica Peatross and assistant DJ Marlow physically abused and bullied the players. The coaches called them “brats” or “babies,” caused multiple overuse injuries, bloody feet, and vomiting from excessive drills, threatened them after bringing their concerns to the athletic department, and forbade anyone who reported the abuse from rejoining the team this season, the suit says. Peatross and Marlow started at WOU in June 2023.

The athletic director, Randi Lydum, is also a defendant in the suit, which claims she misled the players by assuring them their complaints would be heard and taken seriously. The suit even says Lydum acknowledged that she had a poor track record with coaches because she had already fired a soccer and volleyball coach over abuse claims. But, the filing says, the coaches punished the players for being “dramatic” and “tattletales” by going over their head to Lydum, who didn’t resolve their concerns.

“She made me feel like I could confide in her,” player Ana McClave said of Lydum. “And she told me that everything that was happening was wrong, and that it would get fixed, and there would be solutions to the problem. But it only made it worse.”

WOU, president Jesse Peters, and dean of students Malissa Larson are also named as defendants. The suit says multiple parents reached out to Lydum and other school officials, but that led to reduced playing time for their daughters and no action.

“We received the lawsuit and are currently in the process of reviewing its contents,” a spokesperson for the university said in a statement to Front Office Sports.

Claims of Physical Abuse

The suit says the coaches punished the team with excessive running, overpracticed the players beyond NCAA guidelines, made comments about their bodies, told them they were worthless, and called them “weak” and “lazy,” among other things. The suit says coaches insisted athletes play through various injuries and were callous to players who did sit out.

The filing also says coaches exceeded NCAA limits on practice days—including telling players anything “optional” on the calendar was not actually optional—and forced religion onto the team with prayers before every game and religious music on the road and at practice, the suit says.

In another wrinkle, Peatross filed a police report accusing a player of “intentionally elbowing her” resulting in the “worst pain she ever experienced.” But when police reviewed the practice footage, they “did not see anything in the video that would substantiate the claims made by the coach,” according to a police report obtained by FOS. The suit says the player accidentally ran into Peatross during a drill where the coach was standing in the middle of the court. That player and teammates who stood up for her were kicked out of practice, including one who was escorted out by campus public safety officers because she had been videotaping what was going on, the suit says.

The suit also says Marlow was “unnecessarily and intentionally aggressive” while working with the players, intentionally fouling them at practice. One player says Marlow gave her a season-ending knee injury, shortly before the athletic director said the coaching situation wasn’t bad enough to do anything because no one had been “physically abused.” 

Claims of Bullying

The emotional abuse alleged in the suit includes the coaches telling the players they shouldn’t be friends with one another or pick each other off the floor, pitting them against each other, encouraging “shit talk” between teammates, and that Marlow in particular posted “demeaning” messages about the team on X/Twitter. Coaches hurled insults that players were “too weak,” “too emotional,” “lazy,” “entitled,” “dogshit,” drunk or hungover, and forced them into “extreme weight loss,” the suit claims. The suit says players at Salem University, where Peatross and Marlow previously coached, shared similar experiences of physical and emotional abuse.

The complaint says the coaches told one player to stop taking her antidepressants and called her “Eeyore,” a reference to the Winnie the Pooh character. The complaint says she reported the situation and her side effects to a trainer and the athletic director, but “nothing came out of it.”

The suit says the coaches made a player from Hawai‘i feel “racially unaccepted,” and suspended her for having travel issues flying back after Christmas. In another airport-related incident, the suit says Peatross left her team at the airport in Los Angeles with “no direction of where they were supposed to go.”

A “Sham Investigation”

Western Oregon’s season ended six games early last year (against a vote by the players to continue with new coaches, the suit says) before a university-commissioned investigation by an outside firm. The investigation found the allegations were “not sustained” and the coaches were reinstated in April. The lawsuit calls it a “sham investigation,” saying the firm interviewed only four of 12 players who made complaints and didn’t request any documents, recordings, emails, or videos.

The coaches then met with players who had remaining eligibility, but allowed just the ones who hadn’t complained to stay on the team, the suit says. That led the athletes to lose their academic scholarships, and Lydum and the Board of Trustees did not respond to parental concerns about this.

The suit has been anticipated since September when the attorneys filed a 40-page notice of claim that included a photo of bloody socks and allegations of emotional and physical abuse.

The team is 7–10 so far this season with Peatross and Marlow at the helm.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Rob Bonta

Users Sue Daily Fantasy Companies After California Calls Them Illegal

Underdog Sports and Boom Fantasy were separately sued.
Michael Jordan

Texts From Michael Jordan, NASCAR Bosses Aired Out in Court: ‘I Have..

Jordan said he plans on “going down with fire” against NASCAR.
Barstool

Barstool Sues For Millions Over Failed Sponsorship Deal 

The media company says it was stiffed to the tune of $4.2 million.
Dallas Wings

WNBA Teams Desperate to Expand Rosters Amid ‘Extreme Hardship’ 

The Wings are scrambling to field eight players Friday night.

Featured Today

Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) celebrates with offensive lineman Donovan Jackson (74) after a touchdown catch against Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the first quarter during the College Football Playoff National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on January 20, 2025.

The Most Expensive Roster Year in College Football History

The House settlement created revenue-sharing—and a big NIL loophole.
August 26, 2025

‘You’re Going to Get Beat Up’: The Liberty’s All-Male Practice Squad

A select group suits up weekly to take on the defending champs.
August 24, 2025

The Honey Deuce Effect: How Tennis Perfected the Signature Cocktail

Sold every 1.5 seconds, they total more than $12 million in sales.
Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) warms up as the Texas Longhorns prepare to play the Clemson Tigers in the first round of the College Football Playoffs at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium.
August 23, 2025

Schools Are Hesitant to Allow PE Into Their Athletic Departments

Regardless of budget, schools don’t believe the risk is worth the reward.

Cody Campbell Asks Congress to Allow National College Sports TV Package

The billionaire’s ad will air on ESPN and Fox this weekend.
Apr 19, 2025; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders during the spring game at Folsom Field.
August 28, 2025

Coach Prime Enters Year 3 at Colorado With New Challenges

The Buffaloes have sold out their season tickets yet again.
Ohio State mascot Brutus interacts with Lee Corso on the set of ESPN College GameDay prior to the College Football Playoff first round game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Tennessee Volunteers in Columbus on Dec. 21, 2024.
August 29, 2025

End of an Era: Lee Corso Makes His Final ‘College GameDay’ Appearance

After 431 iconic headgear picks, the iconic coach bids farewell.
Sponsored

Gareth Bale on MLS vs EPL, Retirement & Buying Cardiff City

Gareth Bale shares his post-soccer business playbook.
August 27, 2025

Fox, YouTube TV Avoid Blackout With Short-Term Deal

The upcoming Texas–Ohio State clash will remain available to subscribers.
August 27, 2025

College Football Players Projected to Earn $1.9B This Year, Nearly Double 2024

The spike comes in the first season of revenue-sharing.
Oregon State Beavers quarterback Gevani McCoy (4) scrambles out of the pocket during an NCAA football game against UNLV at Reser Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Corvallis, Ore.
August 27, 2025

Pac-12 Strikes New Football, Basketball Deal With The CW

The latest step in its resurrection after being picked apart in 2023.
Oct 17, 2015; Evanston, IL, USA; A general view of the Northwestern Wildcats logo at midfield before the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Ryan Field.
August 25, 2025

Northwestern AD Singles Out Volleyball As Sport to Invest In

Northwestern athletic director Mark Jackson spoke to Front Office Sports.