Women's Hoops Coach Accused Of Forcing Religious Beliefs On Players, Demanding They Be Virgins

A former Oakland (Mich.) University women’s basketball player is alleging her female coach encouraged players to accept her religion and vow to everyone they were “virgins” in order to stay in the program's good graces.

An all-state guard from Michigan’s St. Clair High School, Stacey Farrell began attending the university in 2007 and right away she alleges coach Beckie Francis made her principles clear. According to the USA Today Sports, Farrell maintains Francis passed out a list of rules that made clear her players didn’t “fraternize with the men’s team.”

 The questionnaire also reportedly asked “by the way, are you guys virgins? You guys are virgins, right? You guys haven’t had sex, right?”

Farrell alleges Francis also talked extensively about her church and encouraged players to regularly attend services with her. Francis was fired last month amid an ongoing probe and a rising cloud of mystery.

"We didn't say anything," Farrell told USA Today.  "We were all pretty much dumbfounded at that point. You're 18 years old, some of the girls were 17 at the time."

Farrell adds she and other new players soon learned such rhetoric was a regular part of Francis’ teachings, marking the start of what they said would be a constant obsession by the coach to control every aspect of their lives.

The older players' advice: If anyone asks, you are a virgin. You are Christian. You do not drink. You do not smoke. You do not talk to guys. You sit in your dorm room and study.

Since Francis' firing — after 13 seasons, a record 65 games over .500 and two NCAA tournament appearances — Oakland University officials have shed little light on the reasons for her dismissal. The school released a statement at the time that said an investigation had begun in April after concerns about her conduct and behavior and that she had been terminated with cause in June.

Francis and then-Oakland president Gary Russi, who happens to be her husband, have declined multiple requests for comment. Farrell was among 15 former players and others close to the Oakland program that in interviews with the Detroit Free Press have been critical of Francis.

One of the most common themes voiced by the players is how they often felt powerless in reacting to their coach’s demands because of who her husband was.

Other criticisms were Francis' fixation on their weights, to the point they were required to take photos in just their sports bras and Spandex to chart body changes, subjecting the players to persistent emotional abuse and “head games” far beyond typical motivational speeches and the pushing of her religious beliefs on all the players and insisting that they regularly attended services at her sanctuary. 

School officials said their probe is ongoing.

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