MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin has announced its intention to investigate accusations made by Tessa Towers, a former women’s basketball player, regarding her experiences under Coach Marisa Moseley and her staff. Towers, who played for the Badgers from 2022 to 2024, shared her concerns in a TikTok video over the weekend, claiming her freshman year was severely impacted by her treatment by the coaching team.
In her post, Towers wrote, “My freshman year of college, I felt like a lab rat for my coaches and staff because they would put me on new medications every other week,” alongside images of herself in her Wisconsin uniform. At the time of her assertion, she was only 17 years old.
Coach Moseley’s record over four seasons with Wisconsin stands at 44 wins and 68 losses, with the team not achieving a winning season since the 2010-11 year. In response to Towers’ allegations, the Wisconsin athletic department released a statement acknowledging awareness of the situation. “We care deeply about the physical and mental well-being of all of the student-athletes on our teams, during and after their time on campus,” the statement noted while reminding the public that federal privacy laws limit their ability to discuss health-related allegations disclosed by Towers.
Though she did not mention Moseley explicitly, Towers claimed that she was compelled to sign a release form allowing her coach to access her therapy sessions or face expulsion from the team. She further accused the coaching staff of mandating tests for autism and asserted that her coach presented her with a decision: either voluntarily admit herself to a mental institution or be removed from the team.
Towers mentioned incidents where she felt mistreated, asserting she was expelled from practice after a teammate provoked a dispute and was excluded from team outings, such as a trip to the Virgin Islands, without justification. She expressed distress over these episodes, noting she often left her coach’s office in tears.
During her time at Wisconsin, Towers participated in three games in the 2022-2023 season before the school announced in December 2022 that she would take a leave of absence due to personal matters. In the 2023-2024 season, she played one game before declaring her intention to transfer. Currently, she competes for Ball State, where she has played in 12 games this season, with averages of 3.1 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.
Marisa Moseley was previously successful at Boston University, finishing with a record of 45-29 over three seasons. She also served as an assistant coach under Geno Auriemma during five of his championship-winning seasons at UConn.
This season, the University of Wisconsin’s women’s basketball team has struggled, holding a record of 10-10 overall and 1-8 in the Big Ten, with an eight-game losing streak currently limiting their performance.
