She feared retaliation if she refused his advances
In the space between a coach's authority and a player's vulnerability, a years-long denial finally collapsed under oath. Chuck Love, former assistant coach for Nebraska women's basketball, admitted in a 2025 deposition to a sexual relationship with player Ashley Scoggin — a relationship she says she feared refusing, given the power he held over her career. Scoggin's 2024 civil lawsuit now reaches beyond one man's conduct to ask what institutions owe the young people they invite into their care.
- A coach who denied everything for nearly three years finally admitted under oath to a sexual relationship with one of his own players.
- When the relationship was discovered during a road trip, it was the player — not the coach — who was dismissed from the team, transferred universities, and left to rebuild her career elsewhere.
- The university's official response to the lawsuit was a studied silence: regents, the head coach, and the athletic director all claimed they lacked enough information to confirm or deny what their own employee had been doing.
- Scoggin's attorney argues that institutional leaders effectively amplified Love's denials, creating a coordinated wall of silence around a known power imbalance.
- The lawsuit now targets not just Love but the absence of policies, training, and safeguards that allowed the relationship to take root in the first place.
- The case is moving toward a reckoning with a question universities rarely answer directly: who is responsible when the systems meant to protect students are never built at all.
Chuck Love admitted in a February 2025 deposition that he had a sexual relationship with Ashley Scoggin, a player on his Nebraska women's basketball team — reversing denials he had maintained for nearly three years. The admission surfaced in court documents filed the following month, part of a civil lawsuit Scoggin brought in 2024 against Love and university officials.
Scoggin's complaint described a coach who singled her out, whose attention turned sexual, and whom she feared refusing given his control over her playing time and future in the sport. When first questioned, Love denied everything — the relationship, the advances, the inappropriate conversations, even inviting her out for drinks. That wall held until he sat under oath.
The unraveling began in February 2022, when teammates found Scoggin in Love's hotel room during a road trip. She was dismissed from the team within hours. Love was suspended with pay and resigned three months later. The university framed Scoggin's removal around 'dishonesty and distrust' with teammates — language that placed the burden on her rather than on the coach who had initiated the relationship.
The institutional response to the lawsuit was equally telling. The Board of Regents, head coach Amy Williams, and former athletic director Trev Alberts all claimed insufficient information to confirm or deny whether a sexual relationship had existed — even as Love himself was still denying it. Scoggin's attorney noted that this amounted to an institutional endorsement of his denials.
Scoggin transferred to UNLV and continued playing. Her lawsuit argues that Nebraska failed to build the policies, training, or safeguards that might have prevented the relationship from developing at all — a charge that turns a single coach's misconduct into a question of what universities owe the athletes who trust them.
Chuck Love sat for a deposition in February 2025 and admitted what he had denied for years: he had a sexual relationship with Ashley Scoggin, a player on his Nebraska women's basketball team. The admission came in court documents filed in March, a reversal that carries the weight of a confession extracted under oath. Scoggin had filed a civil lawsuit against Love and university officials in 2024, and Love's own testimony became evidence against him.
Scoggin's account, laid out in her original complaint, described a coach who singled her out for special attention. That attention became sexual. She wrote that she feared retaliation if she refused his advances—a reasonable fear given the power he held over her playing time, her roster spot, her future in the sport. When Love was first asked about the relationship, he denied it entirely. He denied seeking sexual contact with students. He denied discussing inappropriate topics with her. He denied inviting her out for drinks. For nearly three years, he maintained this wall of denial.
The relationship unraveled in February 2022 during a road trip. Teammates found Scoggin, fully clothed, in Love's room. Within hours, she was dismissed from the team. Love was suspended with pay. Three months later, he resigned. Scoggin transferred to UNLV and continued her playing career elsewhere. The university's explanation for her removal centered on "dishonesty and distrust" between her and her teammates—language that shifted blame onto the player rather than addressing the fundamental breach of authority that had occurred.
The university's response to the lawsuit revealed how institutional structures can obscure accountability. The Board of Regents, head coach Amy Williams, and former athletic director Trev Alberts all claimed they lacked "sufficient information and belief" to confirm or deny whether a sexual relationship had existed. This was the official position even as Love himself was denying it. Scoggin's attorney, Maren Chaloupka, noted that these officials had effectively endorsed Love's denials, creating a unified front of institutional silence.
Scoggin's lawsuit targeted not just Love but the systems that failed to protect her. She alleged that Nebraska had failed to establish safeguards, policies, or training to prevent staff members from pursuing sexual relationships with student-athletes. The case raises a question that extends far beyond one coach and one player: what responsibility do universities bear when they create environments where such relationships can take root and flourish? Scoggin played two seasons for the Cornhuskers. She came from Dallas, Oregon, to play college basketball. What she encountered instead was a coach who used his position to initiate a sexual relationship with her, then watched as the institution she trusted responded by removing her from the team.
Notable Quotes
Love for the first time admitted that he had a sexual relationship with Scoggin— Court filing from March 17, 2025
The university's Board of Regents, head coach Amy Williams and former athletic director Trev Alberts claimed they lacked sufficient information and belief to confirm or deny the allegations— University's response to the civil lawsuit
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did Love finally admit to the relationship in his deposition when he'd denied it for so long?
Because he was under oath. Denying it in the court of public opinion or even in initial responses to the lawsuit was one thing. But in a deposition, lying carries legal consequences. At some point, the evidence or his own attorney's advice made continuing the denial untenable.
What strikes you most about how the university handled this?
That they removed Scoggin from the team for "dishonesty and distrust" rather than addressing what actually happened. They had a player and a coach in a sexual relationship—a massive power imbalance—and they framed her as the problem. That's institutional self-protection dressed up as discipline.
Did the other coaches and administrators know?
The lawsuit suggests they should have known, or at least should have had systems in place to know. That's what Scoggin's case is really about—not just Love's actions, but Nebraska's failure to create safeguards. When officials claim they lack "sufficient information" to confirm a relationship, they're admitting those safeguards didn't exist.
What happens to Scoggin now?
The lawsuit continues. Love's admission in the deposition strengthens her case considerably. But she's already paid the price—she lost her place on the team, had to transfer, had to rebuild her college career elsewhere. The legal process might bring accountability, but it can't undo what happened to her.