Auburn, Ala. (EETV) - Hours after a report released by ESPNW revealed shocking allegations against the Auburn Softball program for abuse and sexual harassment allegations, a former player exclusively reveals shocking details to EETV.
“You could simply tell they blamed everything on us,” said the former player that wishes to remain anonymous. “They treated us as if we betrayed them.”
The ESPN report revealed that Auburn softball player Alexa Nemeth filed a letter alleging abusive treatment by the Auburn softball coaching staff and a pattern of sexual harassment.
However, the story begins at a much earlier date. The story begins in the fall of 2016 when rumors of a relationship between assistant coach Corey Myers and a player surfaced.
“At first none of the players believed the accusations,” said the former player.
Following the rumors, an investigation began to look into the rumors; Corey took a week off.
“Head coach Clint Myers told us players to rally behind and stand up for Corey Myers,” said the former player. “So we did because we still didn’t believe it.”
The teams rallying efforts brought Corey back to the team and according to our source, the situation died down.
After Christmas break, she says things ramped back up.
“Someone actually caught Corey and this former player holding hands,” our anonymous source reveals.
The player who caught Corey went to Clint Myers immediately to inform him of the situation. According to the source, Clint Myers blew off the allegation as if it did not happen.
As weeks passed there were no new developments, until an away series. Corey and the former player were caught talking behind a stairwell past the player’s curfew.
The next day, while on the way to the field, one of the team members saw the player, who was allegedly in a relationship with Corey, texting him.
“She [another member of the team] immediately got her phone and took screenshots,” said the former player. “Later looking at the screenshots and reading them, she immediately knew that everything was a lie.”
After the text messages were discovered, there was a team meeting before leaving for the Georgia series.
“Every girl on the team except the player in the relationship was locked inside our team room for four hours,” said the former player.
During that meeting, the team learned that Corey would no longer be coaching.
Associate AD Meredith Jenkins was also at the team meeting and was aware of the pictures of the text messages between Corey and the former player.
According to our anonymous source, Jenkins told the players “a police report had been filed and that if we had the picture we could face criminal charges.”
After telling the team about the police report, she pulled the five players with the pictures aside and “basically told them that she knew they had them and repeated herself and told them they could face criminal charges with the pictures on their phones.”
According to our source, following the meeting, the seniors went to Clint Myers's office and told them that if the player in the relationship was coming on the trip to Georgia then none of them would get on the bus.
“After 45 minutes of talking, the player decided herself not to attend the series at Georgia,” said the former player.
After the Georgia series, the climate of the softball team changed dramatically. The demeanors of Clint Myers and Coach Casey Myers changed.
“Coach Clint Myers said that ‘we betrayed the family,” the former player said. “Everything changed for the worse after the Georgia series.”
According to the former player, the downfall of the Auburn softball team last season in the Super Regional was because of the program's climate change after Corey Myers's resignation.
“Nobody can truly understand what we went through,” said the former player. “Out of the years I played…that was the most miserable time.”
The former player says the situation created a more united team.
“We came closer as a team,” said the former player. “We became closer because we had to fall on each other.”
Although this story comes from a former player who says she experienced these events in the Auburn softball program, there are those who do not believe the allegations.
Former player Rachael Walters stated her dissatisfaction of these allegations.
She took to twitter to show her disapproval for the allegations and her belief that they are not true.
We reached out to Auburn Athletics, and they released the following statement:
“The well-being of Auburn student-athletes was and is our utmost concern. In each instance of a personnel issue or question, Auburn Athletics works in conjunction with the university’s administration, following all established guidelines and in compliance with NCAA and SEC regulations when applicable, to investigate, learn the facts and take appropriate action. We followed this same procedure in matters related to the softball program. By both practice and in compliance with federal privacy laws, Auburn doesn’t disclose details of personnel matters.”
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Updated Statement from Auburn University:
"ESPN has written an important story about our softball team. It's a serious matter. As a university that cares deeply about our student-athletes, we have taken this seriously since the first concerns were raised.
An investigation was promptly launched when allegations were made. While we don’t by policy or law comment on personnel issues or issues related to students, any suggestion that Auburn Athletics or university administration didn’t take it seriously or didn't act in the best interest of student-athletes is simply false.
While the law requires us to protect the privacy of our students, tying our hands about what can be said publicly, there is a reason changes took place with the coaching staff. As much as we may want to give more details, we have been approached by some of the student-athletes involved, directly asking us to protect them because they don't want their names made public.
Once the facts were established, changes to the staff quickly followed. Honoring the student-athletes requests for privacy while taking necessary disciplinary action is not an easy line to walk when the media asks legitimate questions, but we did the right things at the right time for the right reasons.
At all times, Auburn University will protect its students, obey privacy laws, and deal with anyone on staff who violates our high standards."
