A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by six former Wisconsin women's basketball players against their former head coach and the university, ending a case that had raised uncomfortable questions about player welfare in college athletics. Judge James D. Peterson of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin granted the motion to dismiss on October 7.
The lawsuit, filed more than a year ago, listed former players Lexi Duckett, Krystyna Ellew, Mary Ferrito, Tara Stauffacher, Tessa Towers and Tessa Grady as plaintiffs. It alleged that the players were subject to psychological abuse from former head coach Marisa Moseley and that the university failed to protect them. Moseley resigned from Wisconsin after four seasons in March 2025, citing personal reasons. The Badgers went 47-75 under her direction, never posted a winning record in Big Ten play and never made the NCAA Tournament.
The case gained public attention when Towers went public with her allegations in a TikTok post, saying she felt like a lab rat and that coaches and staff were putting her on new medications every other week. At the time, Wisconsin said it was looking into the allegations and that it cared deeply about the physical and mental well-being of its student-athletes.
In granting the dismissal, Peterson wrote that the complaint failed to state a plausible claim for relief under the Constitution, the Americans with Disabilities Act or the Rehabilitation Act. The court also concluded that the claims of two plaintiffs were barred by the statute of limitations. Peterson added that the allegations showed Moseley and Wisconsin did not violate the players' rights to substantive due process or equal protection, or their clearly established rights under the First Amendment, and that the allegations had fundamental defects that would be difficult to fix.
The ruling is a significant legal victory for the university and its former coach, but it does not fully resolve the underlying questions the case raised. Player allegations of psychological mistreatment have become increasingly common in college sports, and the gap between what players experience and what courts recognize as actionable remains wide. For the six former players, the dismissal closes a legal avenue even as the broader conversation about athlete welfare in the NCAA continues.
For the university, the dismissal validates its position that the claims did not meet the legal threshold for liability, though it does not erase the reputational questions raised when the suit was filed. Moseley, who has not coached at the collegiate level since her resignation, can now move forward without the case hanging over her. The plaintiffs retain the right to appeal, and whether they do will determine whether this chapter is truly closed.