Toxic abuse alleged inside Purdue-Fort Wayne women`s basketball: `It was brutal`

INDIANAPOLIS — After each berating, Chelsea Driver said she would hide in an office in Hilliard Gates arena. As the head athletic trainer for Purdue-Fort Wayne`s women`s basketball team, Driver said she soothed herself by cutting after each of coach Niecee Nelson`s verbal tirades, making wounds so deep on her right hip that the team doctor would sometimes have to stitch them up.

She would try to rationalize the chaos around her, she said. This must just be the way Division I basketball is: filled with bullying and mental abuse. Athletes forced to play with injuries. Players who aren`t in shape shamed. Teammates mocked for depression and anxiety. Food and medical care withheld.

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Bethany`s Notes: Athletes and support staff must be listed to and heard. Allegations involving the abuse of power by a coach must be investigated right away. The long term affects of any abuse (mentally, emotionally, verbally) has been documented.