MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin is looking into a former women's basketball player's allegations that she was mistreated by coach Marisa Moseley and her staff, the school said Monday.
Ball State center Tessa Towers, who played for Wisconsin from 2022-24, alleged in a TikTok post over the weekend that her freshman year was “completely ruined.”
“My freshman year of college, I felt like a lab rat for my coaches and staff because they would put me on new medications every other week,” Towers wrote in captions over photos of her in a Wisconsin uniform. “I was 17 years old.”
Moseley is 44-68 in four seasons at Wisconsin, which hasn’t finished a season above .500 since 2010-11.
“We are aware of comments shared online by former Badger student-athlete Tessa Towers and will be looking into this matter,” the Wisconsin athletic department said in a statement. “We care deeply about the physical and mental well-being of all of the student-athletes on our teams, during and after their time on campus. While we would like to share additional context around Tessa’s comments, federal privacy laws prohibit us from publicly addressing the health-related claims made on Tessa’s social media account.”
Without mentioning Moseley by name, Towers said her former coach “made me sign a release form for her to access my therapy sessions, or I’d be kicked off the team.” Towers also alleged that the coach and staff forced her to get tested for autism and added that “my coach gave me a choice between admitting myself to a mental hospital or getting kicked off the team.”
Towers also indicated she was kicked out of practice after a teammate initiated an argument with her and that she was excluded from team trips, including one to the Virgin Islands, “for no good reason.” She said she would leave her coach’s office “bawling my eyes out every time.”
Towers appeared in three games for Wisconsin in 2022-23. The school announced in December 2022 she was taking a leave of absence to focus on a personal matter.
Towers played one game for Wisconsin in 2023-24 before announcing last March that she was entering the transfer portal. She has appeared in 12 games for Ball State this season and is averaging 3.1 points and 1.8 rebounds.
Moseley came to Wisconsin after going 45-29 in three seasons at Boston University. Before that, she was an assistant on five of coach Geno Auriemma's national title-winning teams at UConn.
The Badgers are 10-10 overall and 1-8 in the Big Ten this season, and they’ve lost their last eight games.
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