LSU tennis coaches Julia and Mike Sell, once named in sexual discrimination case, exit program

Koki Riley, Lafayette Daily Advertiser
·2 min read

Co-head tennis coaches Julia and Mike Sell, once named as defendants in a sexual discrimination case against LSU in April 2021, are leaving the program to pursue other opportunities, the school announced on Thursday.

Julia had served as LSU's coach since 2012 and was joined in 2015 by her husband, who was named co-head coach after three seasons as a volunteer assistant.

The Sells, along with 12 others, including former football coach Ed Orgeron, were dropped from a sexual discrimination case accusing multiple LSU employees of ignoring sexual assault complaints and violating Title IX policies as defendants in January.

“It has been an honor to serve as the LSU women’s tennis co-head coaches and to have had the rare opportunity to grow this program together as husband and wife,” the Sells said in a school release. “So today, it is bittersweet to share that we have accepted a new opportunity that is best for our family. This was a difficult decision, but we are excited to pursue this next step in our careers."

LSU SEXUAL DISCRIMINATION SUIT: Former football coach Ed Orgeron among 14 names dropped from LSU sex discrimination lawsuit

USA TODAY ON LSU SEXUAL MISCONDUCT COMPLAINTS: LSU mishandled sexual misconduct complaints against students, including top athletes

LSU ALLEGATIONS: LSU knew in 2018 that officials kept allegations against athletes in-house. It did nothing.

The case accused the Sells of ignoring sexual assault complaints and lying to police in 2018 about having any knowledge of accusations of abuse made by the plaintiffs.

When approached by a plaintiff about the assault complaint in 2017, Julia Sells was accused of telling the plaintiff to stop “worrying so much about other people.” And when a parent of a plaintiff spoke to Mike Sells about the allegations of sexual abuse in 2017, he was accused of saying that it “couldn’t be possible, wouldn’t be possible.”

The lawsuit also alleges that Julia Sells had verbally and emotionally abused a plaintiff in 2017, threatening to eliminate their scholarship if certain demands on their body weight were not met and making "disparaging comments" about the plaintiff's sexual orientation.

Under the Sells, LSU made seven consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and hosted the NCAA Regionals in 2021 for the first time. And in 2018, they coached and recruited Eden Richardson and Jessica Golovin to LSU's first national championship when the duo won the NCAA women's doubles title.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU tennis coaches Mike and Julia Sell leave program