Shaunté Fremin, a former LSU softball player and head coach of George Washington University’s softball team, is under university investigation for various allegations.
LSU softball players had mixed reactions to those allegations surrounding the former assistant coach. The allegations include coercing players to play with serious injuries, lying to team trainers and doctors about the injuries and practicing beyond the NCAA’s 20-hour weekly limit.
Senior third baseman Julie Wiese, who was a friend and roommate of Fremin in 2000, said she is supporting Fremin.
“I think it’s a terrible situation what’s going on over there, although I don’t know first-hand about it, my support goes totally to Shaunté,” Wiese said. “As a person, I feel there’s nobody better. She’s totally dedicated to her team getting better.”
Fremin, who played first base for LSU from 1997 to 2000, finishing her career hitting .265 with 15 home runs and 104 RBIs, served as a graduate assistant for the Tigers in 2001. Fremin then served as head recruiter, hitting and outfield coach at Georgia for the next two seasons before taking the GWU job.
“I can tell you straight up that my side is right,” Fremin told The Hatchet on Monday. “All my opinions on what really happened are right.”
Several GW players spoke anonymously to the George Washington Hatchet, the school’s student newspaper, this week and told about multiple incidents involving the coach and players.
The Hatchet reported that players said Fremin allegedly used intimidation and threatened to revoke scholarships if they did not play, even though they had injuries. Players told the paper Fremin told outfielder Ashley Horner to hide a concussion suffered during a game last week.
“She told Ashley how to beat the concussion test that the doctor was going to give her if she went to the hospital so she could play,” one player told The Hatchet. “She would have us lie to trainers and doctors to have us cleared to play.”
Wiese said though she did not know all the facts in the investigation, she was certain Fremin would not have done those things.
“I can seriously say that Shaunté would never force someone to play with a serious injury,” Wiese said. “That player may not have told her [about the injury] for some reason, but that’s not the head coach’s fault.”
Second baseman Sarah Fitzgerald, who along with Wiese was on the 2001 team under Fremin, said the allegations are serious because a coach plays such a vital part of a team.
“Coaches should be out here for the athletes and not for themselves,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s us out here working hard every single day, so I think they have to respect us and everything we do.”
GWU players also alleged Fremin led the team in Christian prayers before games and she once showed them a video about the value of Christianity in sports.
“At the end, she’s asking us all to comment on this, and the whole time we know that we have Jewish people on the team,” one player told The Hatchet. “So, we tried to turn it around and be like, ‘Well, you just have to be accepting, accepting, accepting.’ And she just kept going off about how they had Bible study at LSU.”
GWU players also said Fremin had the team practicing beyond the NCAA’s maximum 20 hours per week limit. One player claimed she had not had a day off since Jan. 12.
Wiese said it is difficult for teams not to go over the 20-hour limit.
“With the 20-hour rule, it’s hard to stay within that because individual players need to put in more than 20 hours to get better on the college level,” she said. “You’re expected to do that on your own, and it’s hard.
“I’m sure if you checked a lot of people, they’d be over [the limit].”
According to the LSU Office of Compliance, an athletic team may not practice more than four hours a day, 20 hours a week or six days a week during the playing season.
GWU (1-5-1) was forced to forfeit a tournament last weekend due to the increasing player injuries.
Currently, the team’s practices have been suspended until March 22 to allow players to get healthy and the university investigation continues, according to GWU assistant and former LSU outfielder Trena Peel.
Peel, who played for LSU from 1999 to 2002 and earned 2002 first team All-America honors and was 2002 SEC Athlete of the Year, told The Hatchet of incidents involving a player’s injuries but denied that they were forced to play.
In a phone interview, Peel said she is in a delicate situation and has tried not to be too involved.
“I was aware of everything going on, but as an assistant coach, I can only say so much,” Peel said. “I never voiced my opinion in front of the players.”
Peel said Fremin’s status is uncertain as of Wednesday, but she still plans to remain with the team for the rest of the season. She said the team should play in its scheduled game on March 24.
“We don’t know when that’s going to be resolved; it’s a human resources issue,” Peel said. “After [March 22], we’ll move on as a team.”
LSU coach Yvette Girouard declined to comment on the situation. When asked to describe Fremin as a coach, Girouard said “that’s why I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I haven’t talked to anyone so I don’t know what’s going on,” Girouard said. “I don’t want to get involved in it.”
— Sportswriter Justin Robicheaux contributed to this report.